Infectious Diseases: Dengue Fever, West Nile Virus, and Lyme Disease

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While many infectious diseases were once all but eliminated from the United States, there's evidence that climate change is a factor that could help them expand their range and make a comeback.

Mosquitoes capable of carrying and transmitting diseases like Dengue Fever, for example, now live in at least 28 states. As temperatures increase and rainfall patterns change - and summers become longer - these insects can remain active for longer seasons and in wider areas, greatly increasing the risk for people who live there.

The same is true on a global scale: increases in heat, precipitation, and humidity can allow tropical and subtropical insects to move from regions where infectious diseases thrive into new places. This, coupled with increased international travel to and from all 50 states, means that the U.S. is increasingly at risk for becoming home to these new diseases.