INSECT-TRANSMITTED disease remains a ma- jor source of illness and death worldwide. Mos- quitoes alone transmit disease to more than 700
million persons annually. Malaria kills 3 mil-
lion persons each year, including 1 child every 30 seconds. Although insect-borne diseases currently represent a greater health problem in tropical and subtropical climates, no part of the world is immune to their risks. In the United States, arboviruses trans- mitted by mosquitoes continue to cause sporadic out-breaks of eastern equine encephalitis, western equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, and La Crosse encephalitis. In the fall of 1999, West Nile virus, transmitted by mosquitoes, was detected for the first time in the Western Hemisphere. In the New York City area, 62 persons infected with West Nile virus were hospitalized, and 7 persons died. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 2000 persons were infected with West Nile virus in the year 2000