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In this Article

• Waterborne Diseases: What They Are and Diseases They Cause
• Sanitation & Hygiene-Related Diseases
• Vector or Insect-borne Diseases Associated with Water
• Neglected Tropical Diseases

Vector or Insect-borne Diseases Associated with Water

Water plays a critical role in the spread of insect-borne diseases because many insects, such as mosquitos, breed around water. An increase in water, especially from flooding, can directly impact the number of mosquitoes and other insects that breed around water, potentially creating high-risk environments for disease. Infected insects can transmit deadly disease to humans through their bite, such as malaria, dengue fever, and West Nile encephalitis. Worldwide, over one million people die each year due to mosquito-borne diseases, most of them young children in sub-Saharan Africa (2). Insect-borne diseases are rarely contracted in North America, but some have become more common recently, such as West Nile virus.

• Arboviral Encephalitides
• Dengue/dengue haemorrhagic fever
• Malaria
• Onchocerciasis
• Rift Valley Fever
• Yellow Fever

For more water-related diseases, see CDC Healthy Water's Water-related Diseases, Contaminants, and Injuries at: http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/disease.

For more information on how to protect yourself from mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, and other insects, visit CDC's Travelers' Health webpage at: http://www.cdc.gov/travel/contentMosquitoTick.aspx

SOURCES:

Centers for Disease Control

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