With the holiday season upon us, you may be planning to travel to visit family and friends or to see different climates. Whatever the reason, it is important to take steps to stay safe while traveling. Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website to view any travel notices and to check areas of [...]
Dengue fever may call to mind a disease of the tropics, but dengue can actually occur right here in Arizona. Between 2007 and 2013 Arizona reported only 3—10 cases of dengue annually, all travel-associated. In 2014, 93 cases of dengue were reported, a 14-fold increase in cases among Arizona residents. Arizona has the type of [...]
Back in July, Arizona’s first case of West Nile virus was confirmed in Maricopa County. Unfortunately, the disease hasn’t stopped there. We’re continuing to see an increase in mosquito-borne illnesses statewide. So far this year, 46 cases of West Nile virus and 12 cases of Saint Louis encephalitis (another virus spread by the same mosquito that causes West Nile) have been confirmed in [...]
Summer’s here, and we know what that means…West Nile virus season. West Nile virus is most commonly spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. However, not every mosquito can carry West Nile virus. There are 40 different species of mosquitoes in Arizona, but only 2 transmit West Nile virus (WNV) to humans effectively, Culex tarsalis and Culex quinquefasciatus [...]
