• Source: List of diseases spread by arthropods

Arthropods are common vectors of disease. A vector is an organism which spreads disease-causing parasites or pathogens from one host to another. Invertebrates spread bacterial, viral and protozoan pathogens by two main mechanisms. Either via their bite, as in the case of malaria spread by mosquitoes, or via their faeces, as in the case of Chagas' Disease spread by Triatoma bugs or epidemic typhus spread by human body lice.
Many invertebrates are responsible for transmitting diseases. Mosquitoes are perhaps the best known invertebrate vector and transmit a wide range of tropical diseases including malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever. Another large group of vectors are flies. Sandfly species transmit the disease leishmaniasis, by acting as vectors for protozoan Leishmania species, and tsetse flies transmit protozoan trypansomes (Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and Trypansoma brucei rhodesiense) which cause African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness). Ticks and lice form another large group of invertebrate vectors. The bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes Lyme Disease, is transmitted by ticks and members of the bacterial genus Rickettsia are transmitted by lice. For example, the human body louse transmits the bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii which causes epidemic typhus.
Although invertebrate-transmitted diseases pose a particular threat on the continents of Africa, Asia and South America, there is one way of controlling invertebrate-borne diseases, which is by controlling the invertebrate vector. For example, one way of controlling malaria is to control the mosquito vector through the use of mosquito nets, which prevent mosquitoes from coming into contact with humans.




Diseases






See also


Arbovirus
Climate change and infectious diseases
List of cutaneous conditions
List of insect-borne diseases
List of parasites (human)
Mosquito-borne disease
Robovirus
Tibovirus
Tick-borne disease




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• List of diseases spread by arthropods
• List of insect-borne diseases
• Arthropod bites and stings
• Arthropod
• Disease vector
• Outline of infectious disease concepts
• List of sorghum diseases
• Arbovirus
• Lyme disease
• Spiroplasma