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Pathogens and Global Health Dec 2013
Topics: Animals; Biomedical Research; Communicable Disease Control; Communicable Diseases; Disease Vectors; Humans
PubMed: 24428825
DOI: 10.1179/2047772413Z.000000000162 -
Journal of Vector Borne Diseases 2022Vector borne diseases (VBDs) remain one of the greatest dangers to global health. At least seven VBDs of public health concern are prevalent in Egypt, including... (Review)
Review
Vector borne diseases (VBDs) remain one of the greatest dangers to global health. At least seven VBDs of public health concern are prevalent in Egypt, including schistosomiasis, fascioliasis, lymphatic filariasis, leishmaniasis, malaria, dengue, and Rift Valley fever. Although many of these diseases are preventable by using evidence-based protective measures, VBD expansion patterns over the past few decades pose a significant challenge for modern parasitology and tropical medicine. In their action plan, Egypt did not identify populations at risk of VBDs. Egypt intends to improve its regional and international communication to identify pathogens and infections and develop "One Health"- compliant preparedness and prevention strategies. However, cross-border collaborations are required for the control of VBDs. In this context, we provide a situational analysis and comprehensive review of the epidemiological data on Egypt's most prevalent VBDs based on an exhaustive search of the major electronic databases and literature from 1950 to 2019. We identified the gaps in Egypt's preparedness for vector-borne disease threats, including adaptation documents, surveillance and monitoring, environmental management, and preparations for the health system. There is a lack of implementation of an integrated vector management strategy that integrates chemical, environmental, and biological control as well as health education. This necessitates cross-sectoral coordination and community involvement to improve vector control activities and the use, storage, and disposal of pesticides.
Topics: Animals; Disease Vectors; Egypt; Pesticides; Public Health; Vector Borne Diseases
PubMed: 36124478
DOI: 10.4103/0972-9062.321759 -
Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases... Jan 2017
Topics: Animals; Communicable Disease Control; Communication; Disease Vectors; Europe; Humans; Internationality; Neglected Diseases; Zoonoses
PubMed: 28055577
DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2016.29002.cha -
Viruses Oct 2021A substantial number of humans are at risk for infection by vector-borne flaviviruses, resulting in considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. These viruses also... (Review)
Review
A substantial number of humans are at risk for infection by vector-borne flaviviruses, resulting in considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. These viruses also infect wildlife at a considerable rate, persistently cycling between ticks/mosquitoes and small mammals and reptiles and non-human primates and humans. Substantially increasing evidence of viral persistence in wildlife continues to be reported. In addition to in humans, viral persistence has been shown to establish in mammalian, reptile, arachnid, and mosquito systems, as well as insect cell lines. Although a considerable amount of research has centered on the potential roles of defective virus particles, autophagy and/or apoptosis-induced evasion of the immune response, and the precise mechanism of these features in flavivirus persistence have yet to be elucidated. In this review, we present findings that aid in understanding how vector-borne flavivirus persistence is established in wildlife. Research studies to be discussed include determining the critical roles universal flavivirus non-structural proteins played in flaviviral persistence, the advancement of animal models of viral persistence, and studying host factors that allow vector-borne flavivirus replication without destructive effects on infected cells. These findings underscore the viral-host relationships in wildlife animals and could be used to elucidate the underlying mechanisms responsible for the establishment of viral persistence in these animals.
Topics: Animals; Animals, Wild; Central Nervous System Viral Diseases; Culicidae; Disease Vectors; Flavivirus; Flavivirus Infections; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humans; Insect Vectors; Mosquito Vectors; Ticks
PubMed: 34696529
DOI: 10.3390/v13102099 -
PloS One 2021Anthropogenic disturbance impacts the phylogenetic composition and diversity of ecological communities. While changes in diversity are known to dramatically change...
Anthropogenic disturbance impacts the phylogenetic composition and diversity of ecological communities. While changes in diversity are known to dramatically change species interactions and alter disease dynamics, the effects of phylogenetic changes in host and vector communities on disease have been relatively poorly studied. Using a theoretical model, we investigated how phylogeny and extinction influence network structural characteristics relevant to disease transmission in disturbed environments. We modelled a multi-host, multi-vector community as a bipartite ecological network, where nodes represent host and vector species and edges represent connections among them through vector feeding, and we simulated vector preferences and threat status on host and parasite phylogenies. We then simulated loss of hosts, including phylogenetically clustered losses, to investigate how extinction influences network structure. We compared effects of phylogeny and extinction to those of host specificity, which we predicted to strongly increase network modularity and reduce disease prevalence. The simulations revealed that extinction often increased modularity, with higher modularity as species loss increased, although not as much as increasing host specificity did. These results suggest that extinction itself, all else being equal, may reduce disease prevalence in disturbed communities. However, in real communities, systematic patterns in species loss (e.g. favoring high competence species) or changes in abundance may counteract these effects. Unexpectedly, we found that effects of phylogenetic signal in host and vector traits were relatively weak, and only important when phylogenetic signal of host and vector traits were similar, or when these traits both varied.
Topics: Animals; Anthropogenic Effects; Disease Vectors; Parasites; Phylogeny
PubMed: 34424937
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256456 -
Frontiers in Immunology 2022Vector-borne diseases have high morbidity and mortality and are major health threats worldwide. γδT cells represent a small but essential subpopulation of T cells.... (Review)
Review
Vector-borne diseases have high morbidity and mortality and are major health threats worldwide. γδT cells represent a small but essential subpopulation of T cells. They reside in most human tissues and exert important functions in both natural and adaptive immune responses. Emerging evidence have shown that the activation and expansion of γδT cells invoked by pathogens play a diversified role in the regulation of host-pathogen interactions and disease progression. A better understanding of such a role for γδT cells may contribute significantly to developing novel preventative and therapeutic strategies. Herein, we summarize recent exciting findings in the field, with a focus on the role of γδT cells in the infection of vector-borne pathogens.
Topics: Animals; Disease Vectors; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humans; T-Lymphocytes; Vector Borne Diseases
PubMed: 36052077
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.965503 -
BMC Biology May 2010Next-generation sequencing can be used to compare transcriptomes under different conditions. A study in BMC Genomics applies this approach to investigating the effects... (Review)
Review
Next-generation sequencing can be used to compare transcriptomes under different conditions. A study in BMC Genomics applies this approach to investigating the effects of exposure to a range of xenobiotics on changes in gene expression in the larvae of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito vector of dengue fever.
Topics: Aedes; Animals; Disease Vectors; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation; Insect Control; Insecticide Resistance; Larva; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Xenobiotics
PubMed: 20525113
DOI: 10.1186/1741-7007-8-52 -
Current Opinion in Insect Science Aug 2020Mosquito vectors in the genera Anopheles, Aedes, and Culex transmit a variety of medically important pathogens. Current vector control tools are reaching the limits of... (Review)
Review
Mosquito vectors in the genera Anopheles, Aedes, and Culex transmit a variety of medically important pathogens. Current vector control tools are reaching the limits of their effectiveness, necessitating the introduction of innovative vector control technologies. RNAi, which facilitates functional characterization of mosquito genes in the laboratory, could one day be applied as a new method of vector control. Recent advances in the oral administration of microbial-based systems for delivery of species-specific interfering RNA pesticides to mosquitoes may facilitate translation of this technology to the field. Oral RNAi-based pesticides represent a new class of biorational pesticides that could combat increased global incidence of insecticide resistance and which could one day become critical components of integrated human disease vector mosquito control programs.
Topics: Animals; Culicidae; Mosquito Control; Mosquito Vectors; RNA Interference
PubMed: 32516723
DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2020.05.002 -
International Journal of Environmental... Dec 2021Extreme precipitation events (EPE) change the natural and built environments and alter human behavior in ways that facilitate infectious disease transmission. EPEs are... (Review)
Review
Extreme precipitation events (EPE) change the natural and built environments and alter human behavior in ways that facilitate infectious disease transmission. EPEs are expected with high confidence to increase in frequency and are thus of great public health importance. This scoping review seeks to summarize the mechanisms and severity of impacts of EPEs on infectious diseases, to provide a conceptual framework for the influence of EPEs on infectious respiratory diseases, and to define areas of future study currently lacking in this field. The effects of EPEs are well-studied with respect to enteric, vector-borne, and allergic illness where they are shown to moderately increase risk of illness, but not well-understood in relation to infectious respiratory illness. We propose a framework for a similar influence of EPEs on infectious respiratory viruses through several plausible pathways: decreased UV radiation, increased ambient relative humidity, and changes to human behavior (increased time indoors and use of heating and cooling systems). However, limited work has evaluated meteorologic risk factors for infectious respiratory diseases. Future research is needed to evaluate the effects of EPEs on infectious respiratory diseases using individual-level case surveillance, fine spatial scales, and lag periods suited to the incubation periods of the disease under study, as well as a full characterization of susceptible, vulnerable, and sensitive population characteristics.
Topics: Animals; Climate Change; Communicable Diseases; Disease Vectors; Humans; Public Health; Viruses
PubMed: 35010425
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19010165 -
Scientific Reports Nov 2022This study investigated the role of vector acquisition and transmission on the propagation of single and co-infections of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV,) and...
This study investigated the role of vector acquisition and transmission on the propagation of single and co-infections of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV,) and tomato mottle virus (ToMoV) (Family: Geminiviridae, Genus: Begomovirus) by the whitefly vector Bemisia tabaci MEAM1 (Gennadius) in tomato. The aim of this research was to determine if the manner in which viruses are co-acquired and co-transmitted changes the probability of acquisition, transmission and new host infections. Whiteflies acquired virus by feeding on singly infected plants, co-infected plants, or by sequential feeding on singly infected plants. Viral titers were also quantified by qPCR in vector cohorts, in artificial diet, and plants after exposure to viruliferous vectors. Differences in transmission, infection status of plants, and titers of TYLCV and ToMoV were observed among treatments. All vector cohorts acquired both viruses, but co-acquisition/co-inoculation generally reduced transmission of both viruses as single and mixed infections. Co-inoculation of viruses by the vector also altered virus accumulation in plants regardless of whether one or both viruses were propagated in new hosts. These findings highlight the complex nature of vector-virus-plant interactions that influence the spread and replication of viruses as single and co-infections.
Topics: Animals; Coinfection; Disease Vectors; Plant Viruses; Vaccination; Geminiviridae
PubMed: 36437281
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24880-5