What’s with these vector-borne neglected tropical diseases?

In 2013, both chikungunya and Zika virus infection are believed to have first emerged in the Western Hemisphere where both viruses now affect much of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean region and also threaten the United States. Chikungunya made its first appearance on the Caribbean island nation of Saint Martin at the end of 2013 and has since spread throughout much of the Americas, including the first locally acquired case in Texas reported this year. Similarly, molecular clock studies indicate that Zika probably first entered the Americas between May and December of 2013 before also spreading throughout Latin America and the Caribbean region, and there are fears that transmission of Zika might start by later this summer in the continental US. While the rapid dissemination of these arbovirus infections in the Western Hemisphere is impressive, this month in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Peter Hotez reports on an equally troubling situation...