Lyme Disease, Malaria, and West Nile Virus
A vector is an insect that transmits disease. Vector-transmitted diseases can be quite serious, but treatable if diagnosed early. Lyme disease—transmitted by a deer tick—is easily mistaken for the flu or other mild infections. It can be quite debilitating. Malaria—transmitted by a mosquito—was a common problem for soldiers who fought in the Pacific during World War II. Even today more than one million people die from malaria each year, mostly in tropical continents with poor economic conditions.
West Nile virus is also transmitted by mosquitoes. It can produce mild flu like symptoms or severe muscle weakness and confusion resulting from encephalitis, which is a swelling of the brain. In its more severe forms, because it can be mistaken for other illnesses, it can be fatal. Controlling malaria and West Nile virus means controlling the mosquitoes that transmit them.
