The ratio of Mosquito diseases, like Chikungunya, to Primate hosted diseases like Ebola, is 700:1 (rounding Ebola cases to 500 total).  yet the fatality of Ebola is so horrendous, visual and high in terms of percentages, that we focus much more on the Ebola outbreak than we do a disease creeping into our ecology slowly by means of ongoing host-vector behaviors.  There are other diseases that penetrated the ecology of North America even more slowly that those which are mosquito borne.  

 

 

Source: m.yahoo.com

The very slow migrating tick borne diseases such as lyme disease remains a very important public health issue, but its victims remain uncounted by most news writers. Lyme disease victims do have their issues you know.

 

See:

1. Lyme Victims from Around US to Gather at IDSA Headquarters and Demand Changes to Guidelines for Lyme
Thursday, 15 May 2014. http://truth-out.org/speakout/item/23732-lyme-victims-from-around-us-to-gather-at-idsa-headquarters-and-demand-changes-to-guidelines-for-lyme 

2. Views: Give Lyme victims same rights as other patients
Holly Ahern. Poughkeepsie Journal. http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/opinion/valley-views/2014/06/14/lyme-disease-patients-chronic/10533911/?from=global&sessionKey=&autologin= 

 

In August 2013 it was estimated by CDC that about 300,000 new lyme disease cases are identified each year (as many as twice of much are estimated however due to underreporting; CDC. http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2013/p0819-lyme-disease.html) .

 

If the same holds true for 2014, that means the ratio of the three diseases so far discussed are 700:600:1, for Chikungunya:Lyme:Ebola.  [For CDC info page on Lyme, see http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/index.php/resources/cases-a-other-statistics ]

 

Not add to this west nile cases, which are incredibly scarce.  So far, perhaps <50 in the U.S., but it is still quite early.   (see http://www.cdc.gov/westnile/statsMaps/preliminaryMapsData/&nbsp; and July 8 data– http://www.cdc.gov/westnile/statsMaps/preliminaryMapsData/histatedate.html &nbsp😉

 

Still in spite of all of these significant number differences, the public is in general most reactive to Ebola, because it is so deadly (30-50%), and because there’s that expectation for what might happen.  

 

West Nile is deadly too, but mostly to elders and children and those of a weak immune system or "constitution", and even so, deaths are infrequent to rare.  There are no deaths as of yet in the U.S. due to Ebola, but such a case would take center stage if it were ever to happen.  Lyme disease we’ve grown adjusted to.  Chikungunya we’ve also got our eyes upon.  

 

SO WHAT HAVE WE FORGOTTEN?  

 

Anthrax, Arboviral diseases, neuroinvasive and nonneuroinvasive, 
Powassan virus, Cholera, Dengue Virus Infection, Dengue fever, Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Dengue shock syndrome, 
Hansen disease (leprosy), Malaria, Plague, Poliomyelitis – paralytic
Poliovirus infection – nonparalytic, Psittacosis, Q fever, Severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) disease, Omsk Fever, Russian Tick Disease(s), Shiga toxin-producing (STEC), Shigellosis, Trichinellosis, Tuberculosis, Tularemia, Typhoid fever, Vibriosis, Viral hemorrhagic fevers, New World Arenavirus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, Ebola virus, Lassa virus, Marburg virus, Yellow fever, and dozens more which we can’t immediately recall the names of.

 

SEE:

 

My "Foreign Disease Intrusion" list (no NPHG video links) at https://brianaltonenmph.com/gis/global-health-mapping/foreign-disease-intrusion/&nbsp;

 

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases. http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/emerging/Pages/list.aspx and  http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/emerging/Pages/Default.aspx

 

Deborah A. Adams, Kathleen M. Gallagher, Ruth Ann Jajosky, et al.  (2012).  Summary of Notifiable Diseases — United States, 2010.  MMWR.  June 1, 2012 / 59(53);1-111 

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5953a1.htm

 

Ronald Barrett, Christopher W. Kuzawa, Thomas McDade, and

George J. Armelagos.  (1998).  EMERGING AND RE-EMERGING
INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The Third Epidemiologic Transition.  Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 1998. 27:247–71.  http://epa.gov/ncer/biodiversity/pubs/ann_vol27_247.pdf&nbsp;   

 

Brian D. Gushulak, and Douglas W. MacPherson.  Globalization of Infectious Diseases: The Impact of Migration

Clin Infect Dis. (2004) 38 (12): 1742-1748.  doi: 10.1086/421268   

http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/38/12/1742.full&nbsp;

 

Manny Alvarez.  July 7, 2014.  Dr. Manny: Is America on the verge of a major health crisis?  http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/07/07/dr-manny-is-america-on-verge-major-health-crisis-985339470/&nbsp;

 

Cal Thomas.  (July 8, 2014).  Immigration crisis: Our Constitution doesn’t guarantee entry to the United States.   

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/07/08/immigration-crisis-our-constitution-doesnt-guarantee-entry-to-united-states/&nbsp;

 

The concerns about IN-MIGRATING DISEASE PATTERNS are reviewed in the following reports:  

 

Robbie J. Totten.  Contagious Disease, Epidemics, National Security, and U.S. Immigration.  CDC, 2012.  Historical Policy Responses.  

http://ccis.ucsd.edu/wp-content/uploads/Robbie-J-Totten_Epidemics-and-U-S-Immigration-Policy-2.pdf

 

Association of State and Territorial Health Officials . (2013).  Global Infectious Disease Impact on State and Territorial Health.  

ASTHO Global Health Meeting, July 31, 2013, Washington, DC.  http://www.astho.org/Programs/Infectious-Disease/Refugee-Health/Global-Infectious-Disease—Impact-on-State-and-Territorial-Health/&nbsp;

 

Ruth Ellen Wasem.  Specialist in Immigration Policy, Congressional Research Service.   April 28, 2014.  Immigration Policies and Issues on Health-Related Grounds for Exclusion.   

 http://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R40570.pdf &nbsp;

 

Other MEDICO-POLITICAL NEWS regarding disease patterns and immigration:

 

Immigration Issues. Illegal Immigration and Public Health (2009)   http://www.fairus.org/issue/illegal-immigration-and-public-health

 

PolitiFact Texas.  Dan Patrick has called illegal immigration an invasion and said immigrants bring ‘Third-World diseases’  http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2014/jun/20/battleground-texas/dan-patrick-has-called-illegal-immigration-invasio/

 

Marc Siegel.  Fox News.  Immigration crisis: US experiencing major public health crisis, too.  http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/06/30/immigration-crisis-us-experiencing-major-public-health-crisis-too/&nbsp;

Ryan Lovelace.  William F. Buckley Group Fellow.  Texas Immigration Center a Magnet for Disease.  Border Patrol union says poor medical screening risks new virus outbreak. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/381101/texas-immigration-center-magnet-disease-ryan-lovelace &nbsp;

 

Laura Murphy.  The Guardian.  The Mexican ‘germ invasion’ is just the right’s latest anti-immigration myth.  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/02/border-patrol-diseases-anti-immigration-myth [note: potential bias noted due to relation to missionary activities]

 

MY RESEARCH on this (one of several NPHG video sets of foreign born viral, vectored, hosted and/or zoonotic diseases, in YouTube:  

By diseases — https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWrApErk5byZnE0bWUqdfH4CYVmnETLg6&nbsp;

By regions or countries — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ60npQzdTk&list=PLWrApErk5bybFfsOWTXWjlwvIM7D4d6-h