As Memorial Weekend Approaches Local Families Buzzing About Best Ways to Protect Themselves!
As families head out for Memorial Day weekend, local docs warn that insect-borne diseases are increasing here and globally, taking a bite out of summer fun and posing serious health threats.
- Infected mosquitos carrying the Zika virus are expected to enter the U.S. starting in June or July, meaning Americans could get infected right here at home according to the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. *
- One type of infected mosquito likely to carry Zika will blanket the south and reach as far north as New York City and as far west as San Francisco. Another species could spread widely along the East Coast and New England. *
- A newly released study in the journal Climatic Change shows another half a billion people could be at risk from diseases carried by insects including the Zika virus, West Nile virus.
- The World Health Organization reports that Zika, with most outbreaks in South America and Southeast Asia, now has a moderate likelihood of an outbreak in France, Italy and Greece popular American summer tourist destinations.
The problem? Global warming has created warmer, wet breeding grounds for insects that are sip feeders taking small blood meals from lots of people.
With Zika spreading to the U.S., we are urging our patients to take precautions to protect themselves from bug bites, says Dr. Jeremy Allen of American Family Care. We are here seven days a week to treat all summer injuries and illnesses from sunburn to bug bites. And if we suspect patients have contracted an insect-carried disease we will make sure they get the proper medical treatment.
