The incidence of tick and mosquito borne diseases has been increasing over the past several years. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that reported tick borne cases more than doubled from 2004 through 2016 and have remained high since then. Known cases of Zika have been documented in both Connecticut and Maryland. As the climate continues to warm, the ranges of ticks and mosquitoes can expand, increasing the chance of infection in both humans and animals.
How Tick Borne Diseases Spread
Tick and mosquito borne diseases are passed to humans and animals through the bite and feeding of infected ticks and mosquitoes. Ticks feed through a behavior called questing. They wait on grass, leaves, bushes, and other vegetation until a host passes by. Using their front legs, they climb onto the host and pierce the skin with their mouthparts to suck blood.
Infection rates vary by tick species and by the bacteria, viruses, or parasites they carry. Each year, numerous tick borne illnesses are reported, including Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Ehrlichiosis, Tularemia, and Anaplasmosis. These diseases are most often transmitted during the feeding process.
How Mosquito Borne Diseases Spread
Mosquitoes infect humans not through blood, but through their saliva. Before, during, and after feeding, a mosquito injects saliva into the skin. This saliva contains anticoagulants, vasodilators, and anesthetics that help the mosquito feed. If the mosquito is infected, disease causing pathogens in the saliva can enter the skin.
Mosquitoes can transmit viruses such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and West Nile. They can also transmit a parasite called Plasmodium, which causes malaria. Only Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria. In addition, mosquitoes can spread filarial worms, thin thread like parasitic nematodes that live in human tissue. Cases of filarial worm infection seen in the United States are typically acquired abroad.
Reducing Tick Habitats Around the Home
Homeowners can help prevent the spread of tick and mosquito borne illnesses by improving outdoor sanitation and removing pest friendly habitats. For ticks, this includes picking up leaves and leaf piles and removing objects stored close to the foundation of the house that provide hiding places where ticks overwinter and mosquitoes lay eggs. Wood piles should be removed or moved away from the house.
Creating a three foot barrier of wood chips or gravel between the lawn and wooded areas or stone walls can help slow tick movement into frequently used areas. Rodent control is also important, as small rodents are key hosts for the blacklegged tick that spreads Lyme disease and other illnesses.
Reducing Mosquito Habitats
For mosquitoes, homeowners should eliminate standing water wherever possible. This includes water that collects in containers such as buckets, toys, or plant saucers. Repairing or patching holes in window and door screens helps keep mosquitoes from entering the home.
Protecting Families and Pets
Ticks and mosquitoes can carry germs that make people and pets sick, and their impact continues to increase each year. Ticks wait on vegetation and then grab on and bite. Mosquitoes bite and inject saliva that can carry pathogens.
The encouraging news is that by following these sanitation and habitat reduction practices, homeowners can lower their exposure to tick and mosquito bites. This helps reduce the likelihood of infection from the diseases these pests can transmit.
