Zoonotic and Vector-borne Disease Program

The Zoonotic and Vector-borne Disease program focuses on diseases in Washington state that can be transmitted from animals and bugs to people. We work with partners using a One Health  approach to prevent and control these diseases.

Lowering the risk to our health depends on:

Monitoring the pathogens that cause these diseases, including where they are and how they are changing over time
Understanding environmental conditions and how they impact animals, bugs, and the pathogens they carry
Understanding the distribution of vector and wildlife populations
Understanding how and when humans are interacting with animals or bugs

Climate changes affect each of these factors, so ongoing disease monitoring is necessary.

What we do

The Zoonotic and Vector-borne Disease program works to lower disease risk and respond to public health events involving zoonotic, vector-borne, or environmental pathogens. We partner with federal, tribal, state, and local health departments. Our program:

Collects data about zoonotic and vector-borne diseases in Washington and interprets what we find
Responds to outbreaks of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases
Prevents zoonotic and vector-borne diseases in humans and animals by educating the public and taking actions that reduce or eliminate the risk of disease
Collaborates with many external partners on disease surveillance, which helps us understand what diseases exist in animal reservoirs, vectors, and the environment
Improves our state’s public health systems to prevent and control zoonotic and vector-borne diseases

Data

Zoonotic and Vector-borne Disease Dashboard
Real-time rabies monitoring data
Real-time West Nile virus monitoring data
Tick data dashboard
Annual Communicable Disease Reports
Washington Tracking Network - Zoonotic Disease - Data showing the amount of zoonotic disease, such as West Nile virus in our state.

Resources

Animal Transmitted Diseases - Zoonotic disease topics like rabies, hantavirus, West Nile virus, and tick-borne diseases.
Notifiable condition reporting forms and guidelines
One Health - Promotes multi-sectoral and cross-disciplinary collaboration to solve health challenges.
Pests - Controlling pests such as rodents, bed bugs, mosquitoes, and ticks.
Veterinarian Resources - Resources to help veterinarians to control zoonotic diseases.
Zoonotic Disease Data and Reports - West Nile virus, plague, and reports.
Zoonotic Disease Rules and Guidelines - Rabies vaccination requirement for pets, animal vendor and venue operator requirements, and other rules and guidelines.