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He notes that this can be challenging: The biggest offenders are small, immature ticks called nymphs, less than 2 millimeters in size and hard to see. “Since black-legged ticks are the main carriers of the bacteria that cause Lyme and related diseases, the best way to prevent Lyme is not to get bitten in the first place,” says Rountree. Prevention is the best strategy when addressing vector-borne diseases. “Diseases that have long been the domain of tropical and subtropical areas are moving slowly into higher latitudes and altitudes.” How to Build Resilience “Where winters have historically been protective, vectors are now able to hang around longer, reproduce longer, and spread ­disease longer,” Lemery says. Higher temperatures are expanding the range where disease-carrying mosquitoes and ticks can live and reproduce. Then you go for a fun hike and boom, you get exposed to Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.” When you fragment the forest, you lose those predators and the mice become more prevalent. “In a healthy habitat, you have a lot of natural predators that feed on the mice that carry the ticks that transmit Lyme. “The risk of Lyme disease is going to go higher and higher because of degraded habitats,” he explains. Changing weather patterns, expanding human development, and waning biodiversity all increase the odds that more of us will encounter these kinds of infections more often. “According to the CDC, more than half of all the infections that people can get are zoonotic, meaning they go from animals to people,” says Rountree. More than half of all the infections that people can get are zoonotic, meaning they go from animals to people. In the United States, the list also includes Lyme disease (caused by Borrelia burgdorferi or Borrelia mayonii, types of bacteria carried by black-legged ticks) and West Nile virus (transmitted by mosquitoes).

(Evidence suggests the virus causing COVID-19 likely jumped to humans from an animal host.)

Some of the best-known vector-borne diseases around the world include malaria, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika. Ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas have long served as vectors that can transmit pathogens to humans.