Vector (biology)

A vector in biology is an animal on or in which a small living thing gets transported. The vector gets no benefit and sometimes loses fitness by the arrangement.

The term is most used for the transport of parasites and agents of disease. So, deadly diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever, are carried by some mosquitoes.

The study of vectors gives us knowledge about the life cycle of parasitic diseases, and this helps us control those diseases.

Examples

An Anopheles stephensi mosquito shortly after obtaining blood from a human (the droplet of blood is expelled as a surplus). This mosquito is a vector of malaria. Fighting mosquitos in areas with malaria will fight malaria effectively.

Insects

Flies

• Mosquitoes
  • Mosquitoes of the Anopheles genus transmit human malaria and elephantiasis (a roundworm disease).<ref>

MicrobiologyBytes: Malaria(link). {{{website}}}.

</ref>

• • Aedes mosquitoes are vectors of avian malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever and chikungunya (a viral disease).<ref>CDC: Aedes albopictus</ref>
• Sand flies transmit leishmaniasis, bartonellosis and pappataci fever.<ref>

Stages in the identification of phlebotomine sandflies as vectors of leishmaniases and other tropical diseases(link). {{{website}}}.

</ref>

• Tsetse flies Several genera are vectors of human African trypanosomiasis also known as "African sleeping sickness".<ref>

Trypanosomiasis, human African (sleeping sickness)(link). www.who.int.

</ref>

Bugs

• Aphids are the vectors of many viral diseases in plants.<ref>

Metapathogen.com Is For Sale(link). www.metapathogen.com.

</ref>

• Triatomine bugs such as Rhodnius prolixus are vectors of Chagas disease.<ref>

Chagas disease(link). www.who.int.

</ref>

Other insects

• Fleas such as the human flea, Pulex irritans and the Oriental rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis, transmit bubonic plague, murine typhus and tapeworms.<ref>http://www.ttlntl.co.uk/3/Diseases/fleas.htm Taking the Lead: Fleas</ref> Rodents, such as rats and mice carry the fleas, and spread them.<ref>Kenneth L. Gage and Michael Y. Kosoy,

 NATURAL HISTORY OF PLAGUE: Perspectives from More than a Century of Research, 
 Annual Review of Entomology, 
 2005,
 Vol. 50,
 pp. 505-528,
 
 
 
 
 Full text,</ref><ref>C. R. Eskey, 
 Fleas as Vectors of Plague, 
 American Journal of Public Health and the Nations Health, 
 
 Vol. 28,
 pp. 1305-1310,
 
 
 
 
 Full text,</ref>

• Glassy-winged sharpshooter (a leafhopper) transmits the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium among plants, resulting in diseases of grapes, almonds, and many other cultivated plants.<ref>

Almeida Lab(link). Almeida Lab.

</ref>

Other groups

• Ticks of the genus Ixodes are vectors of Lyme disease and babesiosis.<ref>

Metapathogen.com Is For Sale(link). www.metapathogen.com.

</ref> and along with lice transmit various members of the bacterial genus Rickettsia.<ref>

Rickettsial Diseases, including Typhus and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever(link). www.textbookofbacteriology.net.

</ref>

• Cyclopoid copepods: a number of species transmit the nematode Dracunculus medinensis.<ref>,

 The intermediate hosts of Dracunculus medinensis in northern region, Ghana, 
 Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, 
 
 Vol. 91(Issue: 4),
 pp. 403–409,
 
 PMID: 9290847,
 
 
 Full text,</ref>

• Mammals
  • Bats which represent about 20% of all known mammalian species act as both a natural reservoirs for viruses such as the Hendra virus (HeV) and the SARS like coronaviruses<ref>Halpin K, Young PL, Field HE, Mackenzie JS. Isolation of Hendra virus from pteropid bats: a natural reservoir of Hendra virus. Journal of General Virology. 2000 Aug;81(Pt 8):1927-32. PMID 10900029</ref><ref>Li W, Shi Z, Yu M, Ren W, et al. Bats are natural reservoirs of SARS-like coronaviruses. Science. 2005 Oct 28;310(5748):676-9. Epub 2005 Sep 29. PMID 16195424</ref> and in many cases as a vector for various viruses such as the lyssaviruses including the rabies virus.<ref>McColl KA, Tordo N, Aguilar Setién AA. Bat lyssavirus infections. Rev Sci Tech. 2000 Apr;19(1):177-96. PMID 11189715</ref><ref>Arellano-Sota C. Rev Infect Dis. 1988 Nov-Dec;10 Suppl 4:S707-9. Vampire bat-transmitted rabies in cattle. PMID 3206085</ref>
  • Felids (cats) are the primary hosts for Toxoplasma gondii a parasitic protozoan which causes Toxoplasmosis.<ref name=Sherris>{{{last}}},

 Ryan KJ, Ray CG (eds), 
  
 Sherris Medical Microbiology, 
 4th edition, 
 McGraw Hill, 
 2004, 
  
  
 ISBN 0-8385-8529-9, 
  
  
  
 Pages: 722–7,</ref> Approximately 30% of the human population is infected with Toxoplasmosis.<ref>Vivan AL, Caceres RA, Basso LA, et al.Structural studies of PNP from Toxoplasma gondii. Int J Bioinform Res Appl. 2009;5(2):154-62. PMID 19324601</ref>

References

This article is a stub. You can help WikiMD by registering to expand it. Editing is available only to registered and verified users. WikiMD is a comprehensive, free health & wellness encyclopedia.