INSECTS AS VECTORS OF DISEASES IN HUMANS AND ANIMALS

Author

Abhishek Garhwal, Gogula Sri Geethika, Arpita Goswami, Ajinkya Tanaji More


Abstract

Insects are major biological and mechanical vectors of infectious diseases affecting both humans and animals, particularly in tropical and subtropical zones. Blood-feeding groups including mosquitoes, sand flies, tsetse flies, fleas, biting midges, and triatomine bugs transmit a wide variety of viruses, bacteria, and protozoan parasites. An insect's capability to transmit pathogens is fundamentally linked to its anatomical features, feeding habits, digestive physiology, salivary gland functions, and microbial interactions. The transmission cycle generally requires the insect to acquire the pathogen from an infected host, survive or multiply within its own tissues, migrate to specific locations, and ultimately release the infectious agent into a susceptible host during feeding or via fecal contamination. Key human illnesses transmitted by these vectors include malaria, dengue, leishmaniasis, African trypanosomiasis, plague, and Chagas disease, while prominent animal diseases include Rift Valley fever and bluetongue. This review explores insect anatomy and physiology, modes of pathogen transmission, prominent diseases, factors influencing vector competence, and modern control approaches. 


Keywords

Insect vectors; disease transmission; vector competence; insect anatomy; physiology; biological transmission; mechanical transmission; zoonoses; mosquitoes; sand flies.



Full Text:

Download Paper PDF


References


  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024a).
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024b).
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024c).
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024d).
  • Chapman, R. F. (2013). The insects: Structure and function (5th). Cambridge University Press.
  • Clements, A. N. (1992). The biology of mosquitoes: Development, nutrition and reproduction (Vol. 1). Chapman and Hall.
  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
  • Franz, A. W. E., Kantor, A. M., Passarelli, A. L., and Clem, R. J. (2015). Tissue barriers to arbovirus infection in mosquitoes. Viruses, 7(7), 3741–3761.
  • Graczyk, T. K., Knight, R., Gilman, R. H., and Cranfield, M. R. (2001). The role of non-biting flies in the epidemiology of human infectious diseases. Microbes and Infection, 3(3), 231–235.
  • Hillyer, J. F. and Pass, G. (2020). The insect circulatory system: Structure, function, and evolution. Annual Review of Entomology, 65, 121–143.
  • Hinnebusch, B. J., Bland, D. M., Bosio, C. F. and Jarrett, C. O. (2017). Comparative ability of Oropsylla montanaand Xenopsylla cheopis fleas to transmit Yersinia pestis by two different mechanisms. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 11(1), e0005276.
  • Laroche, M., Raoult, D. and Parola, P. (2018). Insects and the transmission of bacterial agents. Microbiology Spectrum.
  • Ribeiro, J. M. C., and Francischetti, I. M. B. (2003). Role of arthropod saliva in blood feeding: Sialome and post-sialome perspectives. Annual Review of Entomology, 48, 73–88.
  • World Health Organization. (2023). Trypanosomiasis, human African (sleeping sickness).
  • World Health Organization. (2024). Vector-borne diseases.
  • World Organization for Animal Health. Bluetongue.
  • World Organization for Animal Health. Rift Valley fever.

 

Share your valuable work from Social Media Buttons