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Vector-Borne Zoonoses

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Abstract

Vector-borne zoonoses (VBZ) constitute a group of illnesses caused by a plethora of pathogenic agents affecting animals and humans worldwide. A range of vectors, such as mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, phlebotomine sand flies, lice, and kissing bugs, may transmit numerous bacteria (e.g., Rickettsia conorii, Rickettsia rickettsii, and Borrelia burgdorferi), protozoa (e.g., Babesia divergens, Babesia microti, Plasmodium knowlesi, and Trypanosoma cruzi), helminths (e.g., Dirofilaria immitis, Dirofilaria repens, Onchocerca lupi, and Thelazia callipaeda), and viruses (e.g., Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus, West Nile virus, and tick-borne encephalitis virus) to animals and humans. The burden of several VBZ is still considerable in poor rural areas in tropical and subtropical regions; some of these diseases represent a current public health concern in developed countries as well. A number of factors, such as increases in travel and trade, climate and land-use changes, and socioeconomic and political upheavals, may drive or alter the dynamics of VBZ in animals and humans. In this chapter, we provide an overview about selected aspects of VBZ affecting animal and human populations around the world. Unresolved issues regarding the epidemiology and control of this group of zoonoses are also addressed.

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Correspondence to Filipe Dantas-Torres Vet .

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Dantas-Torres, F., Otranto, D. (2015). Vector-Borne Zoonoses. In: Sing, A. (eds) Zoonoses - Infections Affecting Humans and Animals. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9457-2_27

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