Over the last dozen years, vector borne diseases (carried by mosquitoes and ticks) have tripled in the U.S! Over 600,000 such illnesses have been reported and they are on the rise. Reasons for the rise is influenced by more international travel bringing these vectors from other lands back, increased recognition and reporting of these diseases, as well as a lack of public funding to appropriately combat these illnesses. Zika, chikungunya, West Nile amongst 6 others have become common in our disease lexicon whereas they were unheard of at the turn of the century. 80% of local public health departments lack at least one of the five core criteria for preparedness to combat vector borne illnesses.