Disease & Public Health

Greg Baumann, Pest Sherpa

Ticks, mosquitoes, and rodents do more than annoy people around a house. Some of them move pathogens (bacteria, viruses, and other agents) that can make people sick. That risk is why disease and public health sit next to everyday pest work: the insect or rodent is often the delivery system, and the property conditions that support them are what you can actually change.

What this means right now

October 2026 (updated Oct 19, 2026): Florida reports 368 locally acquired dengue cases across eight counties through October 10 (Week 40, Florida Department of Health). Hillsborough leads with 310, and Pinellas has climbed to 37. Day-biting mosquitoes drive that risk, so dump standing water and use an EPA-registered repellent outdoors; the West Nile page covers the broader mosquito-borne picture, and the mosquitoes guide helps with species ID. Tick and Lyme season still matters in fall; start with the Lyme guide for bite prevention and prompt removal. As nights cool and rodents push indoors, keep cleanup calm and careful; see Hantavirus for rodent-associated awareness around sheds, storage, and crawl spaces.

In this section

Lyme Disease: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and Public Health Response

Tick ecology, prevention, and calm medical boundaries for homeowners.

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Disease

West Nile Virus: Causes and Mosquito Identification

Mosquito risk, what it means right now, and when a pro IPM plan helps.

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Disease

Hantavirus Prevention and Rodent Identification

Rodent-associated risk, cleanup caution, and links into rodent Guides.

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Disease

Vector-borne illness travels with an arthropod bite or contact. Lyme disease is the clear example homeowners meet through ticks; West Nile virus is the one that tracks with mosquitoes and bird reservoirs in many communities. Rodent-associated disease is different: exposure often comes from contaminated dust, droppings, or nesting material in sheds, cabins, crawl spaces, and storage, not from a mosquito or tick. In both cases, the practical question is the same. What pest is involved, how does exposure happen, and what can you do on the ground to lower the odds?

For homeowners, that usually means yard and structural habits that cut contact: tick checks after time in brush, reducing standing water that breeds mosquitoes, and careful cleanup when rodents have been nesting indoors. For technicians, it means treating the pest and the habitat with the health risk in mind, and explaining prevention in plain English so the customer knows what matters after the visit.

Nothing on these pages replaces medical care. If you have symptoms after a tick bite, mosquito exposure, or rodent contact, talk to a qualified clinician. Public-health agencies such as the CDC publish clinical guidance; our job here is the ecology and prevention side, so you ask better questions and reduce exposure around the property.

The articles above go into Lyme disease, West Nile virus, and hantavirus: what drives transmission, which pests are involved, and what prevention looks like in real buildings and yards. Use them when you need more than a quick answer. For species identification and control checklists, start with the matching Pest Guides. For a short field question, use Ask the Sherpa. For the policy and history side, see my explainer on Executive Order 14433, the federal mosquito and tick order, and my history of mosquitoes and disease in Washington, D.C.