As mosquito-borne illnesses threaten U.S., less money spent fighting them

Diseases spread by mosquitoes pose a growing threat to the health of Americans, with the risk at its greatest during these hot summer months.

But you wouldn’t know that from the amount of money being spent to track West Nile virus, dengue, chikungunya and other illnesses spread by pests like mosquitoes, ticks and fleas, a new study reports.

Funding has dropped by nearly two-thirds for state and local surveillance programs aimed at preventing insect-borne diseases, according to a report published online June 10 in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.