Anthropology and Epidemiology of Dengue Fever in Mexico and the United States

Peer Editor: Daniel Woznica; Faculty Mentor: Peter Benson The reemergence of the dengue virus, an arbovirus transmitted by mosquitoes, poses a serious public health threat to many tropical and subtropical regions. The World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations added the dengue virus to its list of potential epidemics in 2005. Due to environmental conditions, the dengue virus is constrained to tropical areas, which typically excludes the United States. However, in recent years, it has begun to transcend the U.S.-Mexico border and infect U.S. citizens and residents. This thesis examines the relationship between the resurgence of the dengue virus in Mexico and implications for the United States given societal and market integration. By investigating the distribution of this virus along the Texas-Mexico border, in contrast with localizations of communicable versus noncommunicable diseases in Mexico, this thesis elucidates the factors that have affected the spread of dengue fever northward in Mexico and into the southern United States. From the Washington University Undergraduate Research Digest: WUURD, Volume 5, Issue 1, Fall 2009. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Henry Biggs, Director of Undergraduate Research and Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Joy Zalis Kiefer, Undergraduate Research Coordinator, Co-editor, and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Kristin Sobotka, Editor