by Claudia Boyd-Barrett posted in Parenting

It's never been more important to protect your family from insect bites, especially during the summer months.
A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows diseases from mosquito, tick and flea bites have more than tripled in the U.S. over the past 12 years. Diseases spread by ticks alone have more than doubled, according to the report.
Authorities documented more than 640,000 cases of diseases spread through bug bites ? also called vector-borne diseases - between 2004 and 2016. Nine of the diseases are new to the U.S., or have only recently been discovered. These include Zika, which is spread by mosquitoes and tied to an increased risk of serious birth defects in babies born to infected women. Other diseases on the rise include dengue, West Nile, Lyme, and chikungunya, the report said. Warmer weather and international trade and travel are partly to blame for the increase, CDC officials said. The only disease reportedly spread by fleas was the plague, which remained very rare, affecting less than 20 people during the study period.
 
Not all cases of vector-borne disease get reported, so the numbers could be substantially higher, the study indicated. Just as worrying, most local authorities tasked with controlling mosquitoes and ticks aren't fully prepared to do so, the CDC indicated.
The agency called on state and local public health authorities to improve training for vector control staff and b...