Anthropogenic climate change is causing temperature rise in temperate
zones resulting in climate conditions more similar to subtropical zones. As
a result, rising temperatures increase the range of disease-carrying insects
to new areas outside of subtropical zones, and increased precipitation
causes flooding that is more hospitable for vector breeding. State
governments, the federal government, and governmental agencies, like the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of USDA and the National
Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS) of the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, lack a coordinated plan for vector-borne
disease accompanying climate change. APHIS focuses its surveillance
primarily on the effect of illness on agricultural production, while NNDSS
focuses on the emergence of pathogens affecting human health. This article
provides an analysis of the current framework of surveillance of, and
response to, vector-borne infectious diseases, the impacts of climate change
on the spread of vector-borne infectious diseases, and recommends changes to
federal law to address these threats.