Five years ago, my mother returned from visiting family in India with what we thought was the flu. Within days, her joints swelled like balloons. The diagnosis was chikungunya — a mosquito-borne virus that causes debilitating joint pain that can last for years. Now, as a high school student researching computational immunology at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, I understand the virus that still tortures her. And I am afraid it’s coming here.
In August, Washington state reported its first potential locally transmitted malaria case. This should terrify every Seattleite. Not because of malaria alone, but because it signals the collapse of our tropical disease defenses just as climate change delivers these threats to our doorstep.
The Trump administration has eliminated the entire $114.5 million federal program that delivered 3.3 billion lifesaving treatments for neglected tropical diseases worldwide — treatments that also protected Americans by controlling diseases at their source. At one point, the administration proposed cutting National Institutes of Health funding by roughly 44%. Meanwhile, mosquitoes capable of transmitting dengue, Zika and chikungunya were discovered in Oregon last year, 300 miles from Seattle.
The data should concern all of us: Our city gained 32 additional mosquito-friendly days — in which the warmth and humidity is favorable to them — since 1979. The Aedes mosquitoes discovered in Oregon thrive in our warming climate. Models predicted they’d establish in Seattle by 2050, but their early arrival suggests these projections were conservative.
My mother, once an avid hiker who explored the Cascades every weekend, now struggles with stairs. She’s not alone. Thousands of Seattleites travel globally each year. Most return through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where 6.6 million international passengers landed last year. Twenty percent of Seattle residents were born abroad, maintaining family ties to regions where these diseases are endemic.
At Fred Hutch, researchers are developing crucial vaccines. But our malaria trials facility, one of only four worldwide, faces severe funding threats. The Gates Foundation pledged $777 million to combat tropical diseases, yet this cannot offset the proposed federal cuts.
The economic miscalculation is staggering. Treatment for a single imported chikungunya case can cost up to $35,000. My family spent thousands on specialists and physical therapy seeking relief for my mother. Meanwhile, prevention through global health programs costs mere dollars per person protected. We’re abandoning cost-effective prevention for expensive emergency responses.
Seattle’s congressional delegation opposes these cuts, but they need our support. U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier, our only physician in Congress, brings medical expertise to the debate. U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell understand the economic implications. But the urgency requires constituent pressure.
The path forward is clear: Congress should restore the $114.5 million U.S. Agency for International Development tropical disease program; that’s less than half the cost of a single F-35 fighter jet. NIH funding must be preserved. Local surveillance requires support. Washington’s health department already faces significant budget constraints while investigating potential malaria transmission.
Most critically, we must recognize that tropical diseases aren’t “tropical” anymore. Climate change ended that geographic protection. When I explain my research to classmates, they assume I study diseases in distant places. I’m studying diseases coming to our neighborhoods.
My mother’s pain arrived in a suitcase five years ago. Soon, it won’t need one. The mosquitoes are already in Oregon. Federal funding cuts have eliminated our early warning systems. The next chikungunya case might not come from India; it might come from Kirkland.
Seattle prides itself on progressive values and scientific leadership. At 17, I shouldn’t have to worry about tropical diseases establishing in my hometown. My generation will inherit the consequences of today’s funding decisions, but we cannot yet vote. You can.
Contact your representatives. Advocate for restoration of tropical disease funding. Support local public health infrastructure. Because when these diseases establish here — and without action, they will — no family should endure what mine has.
