Emerging diseases are those that have appeared recently in a population or those diseases which their incidences or geographic ranges are widely increasing or even threaten to increase in the near future. An emerging disease in Maricopa County Arizona is Ehrlichiosis. This is an acute, febrile bacterial disease primarily caused by a bacteria belonging to the Anaplasmataceae family (Dumler, 2005). In Maricopa County Arizona though the disease is not common, there are cases where people traveling from endemic areas or those that have relocated to Arizona from endemic areas. There are about eight reported cases between the years 2005 and 2011.
Ehrlichia infection is transmitted to human beings through an infected tick bite. The common bite is from the lone star tick which is commonly found in southeastern and south-central the United States. The ticks are not primarily found in Arizona. In this context, it is referred to as an emerging communicable disease in the sense that it does not have significant predisposing factors in Arizona. The disease affects people of different age groups and can be detected seven to fourteen days after exposure (Lake, Antwi, & Blair, 2013). Some of the symptoms of the disease include chills, headache, confusion, fever, malaise, muscle pain, and rashes.
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The Ehrlichia infection can be prevented from a further increase in Maricopa County. One way of ensuring this is coming up with quarantine measures. This is applicable in the sense that people traveling from areas where the disease is highly prevalent should be quarantined and treated before they can be allowed to freely interact with others in Maricopa County. In this manner, the chances of the disease spreading are curbed.
References
Dumler, J. S. (2005). Anaplasma and Ehrlichia infection. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences , 1063 (1), 361-373.
Lake, D., Antwi, K., & Blair, J. E. (2013). U.S. Patent Application No. 13/608,966 .
