Researchers raise red flag that doctors may be underprepared for devastating new disease emerging in US: ‘We want to give the early warning’

Babesiosis, a disease typically spread by blacklegged ticks, is on the rise in the mid-Atlantic, causing concern among researchers who fear doctors are unprepared for a rise in cases.

What’s happening?

Babesiosis is a malaria-like disease that is more commonly found in the Northeast and upper Midwest of the United States. However, researchers found that the disease is spreading in the mid-Atlantic states, including Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, due to changing weather patterns in recent years.

“They’re small numbers, but that’s why we want to give the early warning before more people get sick,” said study co-author Ellen Stromdahl, Ph.D., a retired entomologist at the Vector-Borne Disease Laboratory sector of the Defense Centers for Public Health – Aberdeen.

Why is babesiosis education important?

Climate change is leading to a number of factors that are putting humans at risk of disease-carrying insects and animals such as blacklegged ticks.

First, warming temperatures are disrupting the biodiversity of certain ecosystems, which leads to fewer animals that would typically eat and help control the population of vectors like ticks. Some of these vectors have been displaced from other locales as a result of extreme heat, causing them to spread out toward areas with populations who aren’t typically exposed to the diseases they carry.

Second, warm winters have allowed vectors to breed for longer. In the mid-Atlantic region, where temperatures have been warmer-than-average in recent years, ticks and other critters that can carry the Babesia parasite, which causes babesiosis, have been able to thrive. Babesia has never been found in Virginia, Maryland, or Delaware ticks until now, according to Grist.

Watch now: Giant snails invading New York City?

These factors have led to upticks in cases of babesiosis, dengue fever, West Nile virus, and other diseases in areas where they are typically less common. Because they are less common, physicians experienced in these diseases are often not present in these locales, which can exacerbate the spread.

What’s being done about babesiosis education?

Stromdahl hopes that her research will help raise awareness among physicians in the mid-Atlantic so that they know what to look for when diagnosing babesiosis. She also hopes it will lead local health departments to track ticks and issue public health warnings.

On a personal level, taking steps to reduce your own pollution can help curb the rate of planet-warming gases being put into the atmosphere, which can help slow the disruption of vectors’ habitats.

Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don’t miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.

Yahoo News – Latest News & Headlines

Read the full article .