To promote this year’s World Mosquito Day, occurring on Sunday, August 20, 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is hosting a social media Thunderclap at 10 am ET on Sunday. Thunderclap helps amplify social media messages by connecting partners and friends to share the same message at the same time through Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. This year’s theme, “Protect Yourself from Mosquito Bites,” aims to raise awareness among the public and healthcare providers about mosquito-borne diseases. More specifically, the CDC is providing resources and tips highlighting key risks related to mosquito bites, including:

• Some mosquito-borne diseases can cause serious infections in people in the U.S. and around the world, and often go undiagnosed because their symptoms are similar to other diseases.
• Increased awareness about viruses or parasites spread by mosquitoes is an important step to educating people about why they should protect themselves.
• There are more than 3,000 species of mosquitoes around the world, many can spread viruses or parasites.
• Travelers can get infected with one of many diseases like malaria, dengue, chikungunya, and Zika.

Click here to join the Thunderclap and follow @CDC_NCEZID on Twitter for updates. For additional resources on mosquito-borne illnesses, visit NACCHO’s webpage on vector control, and for more on the Zika virus check out our new infographic, “Zika in the United States: The Growing Public Health Threat and the Critical Role of Local Response.”