HWN Suggests

Mosquito-borne arboviruses: the rising global threat

An increasingly interconnected world with burgeoning tourism, travel, and trade has brought with it not just a prodigious daily shunt of people and cargo across the planet, but also the potential for pathogen and vector stow-away to colonize new grounds. Behold Covid-19, only the most recent example, but by far not the only offender in the witness box. Multiple mosquito-borne arboviruses have escaped their ancestral homes to entrench themselves with tragic effect in many countries across the globe. Think Zika, Chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever, West-Nile virus, and others. This is the tip of the iceberg…a Pandora’s Box of silent and stealthy viruses lurk in primate and bird hosts in the jungles…

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Featured

 Globe-Trotting Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus: Risk Factors for Arbovirus Pandemics

Two species of Aedes (Ae.) mosquitoes (Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus) are primary vectors for emerging arboviruses that are a significant threat to public health and economic burden worldwide. Distribution of these vectors and the associated arboviruses, such as dengue virus, chikungunya virus, yellow fever virus, and Zika virus, was for a long time restricted by geographical, ecological, and biological factors. Presently, arbovirus emergence and dispersion are more rapid and geographically widespread, largely due to expansion of the range for these two mosquitoes that have exploited the global transportation network, land perturbation, and failure to contain the mosquito population coupled with enhanced vector competence.

 Why Arboviruses Can Be Neglected Tropical Diseases

As more emphasis is placed on defining the true cost of the NTDs, the real-world problem of concurrent and overlapping infections must be re-evaluated. Although the neglected tropical viral diseases are part of poverty in tropical nations, their full impact is likely not to be determined in isolation, as arboviruses constitute a part of the larger health problem in resource-poor settings.

Articles of Interest

Arboviruses and Their Vectors

Arboviruses pose a different threat to humanity because of their efficient transmission by our formidable health adversary, the mosquito.

Launch of the Global Arbovirus Initiative

Arthropod-Borne viruses (Arboviruses) such as Dengue, Yellow fever, Chikungunya and Zika viruses are all current public health threats in tropical and sub-tropical areas where approximately 3.9 billion people live. The frequency and magnitude of outbreaks of these arboviruses, particularly those transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, are increasing globally, fueled by the convergence of ecologic, economic, and social factors.

The Emergence and History of Arboviruses

The name ‘arbovirus’ is an acronym for arthropod-borne virus, referring to viruses that are transmitted by arthropods, for example mosquitoes and ticks. Well known arboviruses include dengue, West Nile, yellow fever and Zika virus. Although malaria is mosquito-borne, it is a protist, not a virus, and so is not an arbovirus.

Resources

ArboNET

ArboNET is the national arboviral surveillance system managed by CDC and state health departments. In addition to human disease, ArboNET maintains data on arboviral infections among presumptive viremic blood donors, veterinary disease cases, mosquitoes, dead birds, and sentinel animals.

Arbovirus Research Consortium

The overall goal of the Arbovirus Research Consortium is to assess drivers responsible for arbovirus emergence and spread. We capitalize on an exceptionally large global network of ongoing clinical research partners and blood banks.

RIVM

This group of viruses is transmitted by arthropods, mainly mosquitos, ticks and sandflies. Some of these viruses cause viral hemorrhagic fever, some meningitis/ encephalitis. Dengue virus is the most common human pathogen in the group of arboviruses. Chikungunya virus, Tickborne encephalitis virus, West Nile-virus, Crimean-Congo virus, Yellow fever virus (YFV) and Japanese encephalitis virus are important human pathogens as well.