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FEMS Microbiology Letters Feb 2018Climate change has already impacted the transmission of a wide range of vector-borne diseases in Europe, and it will continue to do so in the coming decades. Climate... (Review)
Review
Climate change has already impacted the transmission of a wide range of vector-borne diseases in Europe, and it will continue to do so in the coming decades. Climate change has been implicated in the observed shift of ticks to elevated altitudes and latitudes, notably including the Ixodes ricinus tick species that is a vector for Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis. Climate change is also thought to have been a factor in the expansion of other important disease vectors in Europe: Aedes albopictus (the Asian tiger mosquito), which transmits diseases such as Zika, dengue and chikungunya, and Phlebotomus sandfly species, which transmits diseases including Leishmaniasis. In addition, highly elevated temperatures in the summer of 2010 have been associated with an epidemic of West Nile Fever in Southeast Europe and subsequent outbreaks have been linked to summer temperature anomalies. Future climate-sensitive health impacts are challenging to project quantitatively, in part due to the intricate interplay between non-climatic and climatic drivers, weather-sensitive pathogens and climate-change adaptation. Moreover, globalisation and international air travel contribute to pathogen and vector dispersion internationally. Nevertheless, monitoring forecasts of meteorological conditions can help detect epidemic precursors of vector-borne disease outbreaks and serve as early warning systems for risk reduction.
Topics: Animals; Climate Change; Culicidae; Disease Outbreaks; Europe; Forecasting; Humans; Insect Vectors; Psychodidae; Ticks
PubMed: 29149298
DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fnx244 -
Annals of the New York Academy of... Jan 2019Climate change is one of the greatest threats to human health in the 21st century. Climate directly impacts health through climatic extremes, air quality, sea-level... (Review)
Review
Climate change is one of the greatest threats to human health in the 21st century. Climate directly impacts health through climatic extremes, air quality, sea-level rise, and multifaceted influences on food production systems and water resources. Climate also affects infectious diseases, which have played a significant role in human history, impacting the rise and fall of civilizations and facilitating the conquest of new territories. Our review highlights significant regional changes in vector and pathogen distribution reported in temperate, peri-Arctic, Arctic, and tropical highland regions during recent decades, changes that have been anticipated by scientists worldwide. Further future changes are likely if we fail to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Many key factors affect the spread and severity of human diseases, including mobility of people, animals, and goods; control measures in place; availability of effective drugs; quality of public health services; human behavior; and political stability and conflicts. With drug and insecticide resistance on the rise, significant funding and research efforts must to be maintained to continue the battle against existing and emerging diseases, particularly those that are vector borne.
Topics: Animals; Climate Change; Communicable Diseases; Disease Vectors; Humans; Models, Biological
PubMed: 30120891
DOI: 10.1111/nyas.13950 -
Environmental Science and Pollution... Jun 2020Global warming and the associated climate changes are predictable. They are enhanced by burning of fossil fuels and the emission of huge amounts of CO gas which resulted... (Review)
Review
Global warming and the associated climate changes are predictable. They are enhanced by burning of fossil fuels and the emission of huge amounts of CO gas which resulted in greenhouse effect. It is expected that the average global temperature will increase with 2-5 °C in the next decades. As a result, the earth will exhibit marked climatic changes characterized by extremer weather events in the coming decades, such as the increase in temperature, rainfall, summertime, droughts, more frequent and stronger tornadoes and hurricanes. Epidemiological disease cycle includes host, pathogen and in certain cases intermediate host/vector. A complex mixture of various environmental conditions (e.g. temperature and humidity) determines the suitable habitat/ecological niche for every vector host. The availability of suitable vectors is a precondition for the emergence of vector-borne pathogens. Climate changes and global warming will have catastrophic effects on human, animal and environmental ecosystems. Pathogens, especially neglected tropical disease agents, are expected to emerge and re-emerge in several countries including Europe and North America. The lives of millions of people especially in developing countries will be at risk in direct and indirect ways. In the present review, the role of climate changes in the spread of infectious agents and their vectors is discussed. Examples of the major emerging viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases are also summarized.
Topics: Animals; Climate Change; Disease Vectors; Ecosystem; Europe; Humans; North America
PubMed: 32347486
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-08896-w -
Frontiers in Immunology 2021
Topics: Animals; Disease Vectors; Evolution, Molecular; Host-Parasite Interactions; Humans; Immune System; Parasitic Diseases
PubMed: 34367192
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.729415 -
Trends in Parasitology Nov 2020Sleep is a phenomenon conserved across the animal kingdom, where studies on Drosophila melanogaster have revealed that sleep phenotypes and molecular underpinnings are... (Review)
Review
Sleep is a phenomenon conserved across the animal kingdom, where studies on Drosophila melanogaster have revealed that sleep phenotypes and molecular underpinnings are similar to those in mammals. However, little is known about sleep in blood-feeding arthropods, which have a critical role in public health as disease vectors. Specifically, sleep studies in mosquitoes are lacking despite considerable focus on how circadian processes, which have a central role in regulating sleep/wake cycles, impact activity, feeding, and immunity. Here, we review observations which suggest that sleep-like states likely occur in mosquitoes and discuss the potential role of sleep in relation to mosquito biology and their ability to function as disease vectors.
Topics: Animals; Circadian Rhythm; Culicidae; Mosquito Vectors; Sleep; Vector Borne Diseases
PubMed: 32952061
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2020.08.004 -
Infectious Diseases of Poverty Apr 2020Chagas disease remains a serious problem for public health due to the high disease burden together with its global spreading patterns. However, current treatment and...
Chagas disease remains a serious problem for public health due to the high disease burden together with its global spreading patterns. However, current treatment and vector control are highly challenged by drug and insecticide resistance. Chemotherapy and vector control have been proved to be effective attempts to minimize the disease burden. Continued efforts are necessary to keep adapting the surveillance-response systems to the dynamic health systems. More attention and investments are needed to improve appropriate strategy and technology in different settings. This may be accomplished by creating effective risk early warning, addressing vulnerability and building resilience systems, implementing a vector surveillance system, as well as innovating research and technology.
Topics: Animals; Chagas Disease; Disease Vectors; Global Health; Humans
PubMed: 32336294
DOI: 10.1186/s40249-020-00658-7 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... May 2017Many important and rapidly emerging pathogens of humans, livestock and wildlife are 'vector-borne'. However, the term 'vector' has been applied to diverse agents in a... (Review)
Review
Many important and rapidly emerging pathogens of humans, livestock and wildlife are 'vector-borne'. However, the term 'vector' has been applied to diverse agents in a broad range of epidemiological systems. In this perspective, we briefly review some common definitions, identify the strengths and weaknesses of each and consider the functional differences between vectors and other hosts from a range of ecological, evolutionary and public health perspectives. We then consider how the use of designations can afford insights into our understanding of epidemiological and evolutionary processes that are not otherwise apparent. We conclude that from a medical and veterinary perspective, a combination of the 'haematophagous arthropod' and 'mobility' definitions is most useful because it offers important insights into contact structure and control and emphasizes the opportunities for pathogen shifts among taxonomically similar species with similar feeding modes and internal environments. From a population dynamics and evolutionary perspective, we suggest that a combination of the 'micropredator' and 'sequential' definition is most appropriate because it captures the key aspects of transmission biology and fitness consequences for the pathogen and vector itself. However, we explicitly recognize that the value of a definition always depends on the research question under study.This article is part of the themed issue 'Opening the black box: re-examining the ecology and evolution of parasite transmission'.
Topics: Animal Diseases; Animals; Animals, Wild; Disease Vectors; Population Dynamics
PubMed: 28289253
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0085 -
Viruses Feb 2019Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a re-emerging mosquito-borne virus that displays a large cell and organ tropism, and causes a broad range of clinical symptoms in humans. It... (Review)
Review
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a re-emerging mosquito-borne virus that displays a large cell and organ tropism, and causes a broad range of clinical symptoms in humans. It is maintained in nature through both urban and sylvatic cycles, involving mosquito vectors and human or vertebrate animal hosts. Although CHIKV was first isolated in 1953, its pathogenesis was only more extensively studied after its re-emergence in 2004. The unexpected spread of CHIKV to novel tropical and non-tropical areas, in some instances driven by newly competent vectors, evidenced the vulnerability of new territories to this infectious agent and its associated diseases. The comprehension of the exact CHIKV target cells and organs, mechanisms of pathogenesis, and spectrum of both competitive vectors and animal hosts is pivotal for the design of effective therapeutic strategies, vector control measures, and eradication actions.
Topics: Aedes; Animals; Chikungunya Fever; Chikungunya virus; Disease Vectors; Host Microbial Interactions; Humans; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; Mice; Mosquito Vectors; Viral Tropism
PubMed: 30791607
DOI: 10.3390/v11020175 -
Current Opinion in Virology Dec 2016The inter-relationships among viruses, vectors and vertebrate hosts are complex and dynamic and shaped by biotic (e.g., viral strain, vector genetics, host... (Review)
Review
The inter-relationships among viruses, vectors and vertebrate hosts are complex and dynamic and shaped by biotic (e.g., viral strain, vector genetics, host susceptibility) and abiotic (e.g., temperature, rainfall, human land use) factors. It is anticipated that changes in climate, as predicted by the most recent Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will result in landscape changes and consequent changes in spatiotemporal patterns of arbovirus transmission. To anticipate evolving patterns of virus activity in a dynamically changing environment, it is important to understand how interconnectedness of mosquito and virus biology together with climate influence arbovirus transmission intensity. Vector competence, survivorship, and feeding behavior, among other aspects of vectorial capacity are intrinsically important to estimate risk and design control approaches.
Topics: Animals; Climate; Disease Transmission, Infectious; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humans; Mosquito Vectors; Viruses
PubMed: 27580489
DOI: 10.1016/j.coviro.2016.08.008 -
Proceedings. Biological Sciences Dec 2019Gene drive is a naturally occurring phenomenon in which selfish genetic elements manipulate gametogenesis and reproduction to increase their own transmission to the next...
Gene drive is a naturally occurring phenomenon in which selfish genetic elements manipulate gametogenesis and reproduction to increase their own transmission to the next generation. Currently, there is great excitement about the potential of harnessing such systems to control major pest and vector populations. If synthetic gene drive systems can be constructed and applied to key species, they may be able to rapidly spread either modifying or eliminating the targeted populations. This approach has been lauded as a revolutionary and efficient mechanism to control insect-borne diseases and crop pests. Driving endosymbionts have already been deployed to combat the transmission of dengue and Zika virus in mosquitoes. However, there are a variety of barriers to successfully implementing gene drive techniques in wild populations. There is a risk that targeted organisms will rapidly evolve an ability to suppress the synthetic drive system, rendering it ineffective. There are also potential risks of synthetic gene drivers invading non-target species or populations. This Special Feature covers the current state of affairs regarding both natural and synthetic gene drive systems with the aim to identify knowledge gaps. By understanding how natural drive systems spread through populations, we may be able to better predict the outcomes of synthetic drive release.
Topics: Aedes; Animals; Biological Evolution; Culicidae; Dengue; Disease Vectors; Gene Drive Technology; Mosquito Vectors; Reproduction; Wolbachia; Zika Virus; Zika Virus Infection
PubMed: 31847764
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2709