Disease vectors are living organisms, typically arthropods such as mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, sandflies, and triatomine bugs, that biologically or mechanically transmit pathogenic agents between hosts, thereby enabling the spread of infectious diseases within populations and ecosystems. In vector-borne disease systems, pathogens often undergo essential developmental or replication stages within the vector (biological transmission), or are passively carried on contaminated body parts (mechanical transmission). Research on disease vectors encompasses their ecology, population dynamics, host-feeding behavior, vector competence, insecticide resistance, and interactions with environmental and climatic factors, informing surveillance, risk modeling, and integrated vector management strategies for disease control.
A new species of bacteria of the genus Bartonella has been found in the Amazon National Park in the state of Pará, Brazil, in phlebotomine insects, also known as sand flies. This type of insect is generally associated with ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 27, 2025
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A new study from North Carolina State University looked at reducing between-farm infections by modeling a new way of routing the trucks that transport feed and livestock between pig farms and from farms to market. The rerouting ...
Biotechnology
Aug 18, 2025
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Babesiosis is an infectious disease that manifests like malaria and spreads like Lyme disease. Once rare in the United States, it is now becoming more prevalent, particularly in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Upper Midwest.
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 18, 2025
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Aphids. You might stumble across them in your backyard, snacking on your veggie patch, in fields and orchards where crops are grown and even along roadsides.
Ecology
Aug 12, 2025
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A drug that makes human blood lethal to mosquitoes also acts as a potent contact insecticide absorbed through the feet, providing a promising new approach to combating insecticide resistance.
Ecology
Aug 7, 2025
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When I tell people I study parasites that live inside ticks, I usually get one of two reactions: a shudder of disgust or a puzzled look that says, "Don't ticks already carry enough diseases?"
Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease that affects up to 1 million people worldwide each year. It is caused by the protozoan Leishmania, transmitted through the bite of a sandfly. Once inside its host—human or animal—the ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jul 31, 2025
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Researchers at USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are investigating the microbial communities carried by house flies to enhance disease monitoring and reduce the risk of disease transmission by fly-borne pathogens ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 23, 2025
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Mosquitoes kill more people each year than any other animal. In 2023, the blood-sucking insects infected a reported 263 million people with malaria, leading to nearly 600,000 deaths, 80% of which were children.
Plants & Animals
Jul 23, 2025
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Anyone who has walked through a barn or cattle pasture in the summer knows that flies are a nuisance and even a health hazard. Face flies can spread diseases like pink eye to cattle, and horn flies—biting flies that live ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 22, 2025
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