Another Emerging Mosquito-borne Infection Has Arrived in the Americas!

In 2013 it was Chikungunya virus moving from across the oceans into the Caribbean before spreading extensively through warmer climates of the Western Hemisphere. In 2014 it was Zika virus entering Brazil from across the Pacific and from there on to locations through South and Central America and the Caribbean, then into the southern United States. Now, as of November 2016, another infectious pathogen has made its way for the first time into the Western Hemisphere. This one is a parasitic worm, long established in Europe, but appearing this month in Mexico and posing a threat of further expansion into a wide range of the Americas. In this case, the range may extend even into temperate areas with cold climates. The new disease-causing invader is a filarial worm, Dirofilaria repens, probably brought to Mexico in a dog reservoir host; and like the viral pathogens that preceded it, the transmitting vectors are mosquitoes that are common throughout the Americas.