VectorWise CME is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing clinical knowledge of vector-borne diseases. We empower frontline healthcare providers with free, online, evidence-based continuing medical education (CME). Our courses are scientifically rigorous and taught by leading experts in clinical care and research.
Our work is grounded in the One Health approach, recognizing that human health, animal health, and environmental conditions are deeply interconnected. As climate change reshapes ecosystems across the United States, warmer winters and longer summers are extending the active season for disease vectors – i.e. ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas. The geographic ranges of these vectors are also expanding. In recent decades:
- The geographic range of Ixodes scapularis (blacklegged tick) has expanded beyond the east coast and upper Midwest, reaching across 43 states and parts of Canada, increasing the risk of Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis and other serious illnesses
- Established populations of Ambylomma americanum (lone star tick), capable of transmitting ehrlichiosis and inciting the food allergy know as alpha gal syndrome, have reached as far north as Minnesota and Maine
- Mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and West Nile virus have surged in areas where they were previously rare and locally acquired cases of malaria have been reported in Texas, Florida and Maryland.
At VectorWise CME, we are accelerating the translation of emerging science into clinical practice to better prepare providers for these rapidly evolving health threats.