Public health effects of vector-borne disease

Vector is defined as arthropods that transmit an infectius pathogen from an infected human or animal host to an unifected human. The major global vector-borne diseases are malaria, leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis, schistosomiasis, lyme disease, tick-borne encephalitis and west nile fever according to the World Health Organization. Although these vector-borne diseases account for 17% of all infections worldwide, they are included in the neglected tropical diseases. The epidemiology of vector-borne diseases is affected by interactions between vector, reservoir, host,and environmental factors. Most vector-borne pathogens are zoonotic and their potential for transmission by travel is high. Vector-borne diseases have re-emergence in many countries due to factors such as environmental factors and travels. The aim of the study is to provide information about the current changes in the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases and their effects on public health.
Anopheles mosqutioes are vector for malaria parasite Plasmodium while Aedes mosquitoes are vector for viral dieases such as dengue fever, zika, chikungunya and yellow fever. Malaria has been a major public health hazard for years and 200 million malaria cases has been reported in the world in 2018 years old. On the other hand, dengue fever was reported in only 9 countries in 1970 while more than 100 countries reported dengue fever in 2019. Tick-borne diseases one of the vector-borne diseases have increased in recent years. In the US, well over 600000 human cases of vector-borne disease were reported during 2004-2016 with tick-borne. Leishmaniasis is an important vector-borne disease and it has been reported to be cutaneous leishmaniasis endemic in 92 countries and visceral leishmaniasis in 83 countries. According to the current data of the world health organization, an estimated 30000 new cases of visceral leishmaniasis and more than 1 million new cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis occur annually.
Vector-borne diseases have been fatal to many people of all age groups in worldwide. Obtaining basic knowledge about the vector-pathogen-host relationship helps to understand the spread of outbreaks and is useful for public health planning. Effective and sustainable vector control, including insecticide and non-insecticide based approaches, is needed to present vector-borne disease. In addition, new vaccines and drugs are needed to protect public health from vector-borne diseases.
Keywords: Vector-borne disease, Public health, Epidemiology