Vector is any carrier of Disease (insects, mosquitoes, ticks and snails) which are an essential part of the life cycle of the disease causative organism. Vector-borne disease is a disease whose transmission requires a vector. Vectors acquire disease organisms by sucking blood from infected persons or animals and pass them on by same route
Common vector borne diseases;
• Malaria, • Filariasis, • Trypanosomiasis, • Yellow Fever, • Plague • Schistosomiasis• River blindness
Common Vectors of Medical Importance
• Mosquitoes
– Anopheles = malaria
– Culex = Filariasis
– Aedes = yellow fever, dengue fever
• Black flies = Onchocerciasis (River blindness)• Tse tse flies = Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) • Lice = Relapsing fever (louse-borne variety)• Fleas = Plague • Soft ticks = Relapsing fever (tick-borne variety) •Hard ticks = African tick-borne typhus
• Freshwater snail
• Freshwater snail
– Bulinus = urinary schistosomiasis
– Biomphalaria = intestinal schistosomiasis
Methods of Vector Control
Control of vector-borne diseases may be done without interfering directly with human beings and their behaviours due to occurrence of the stage in transmission cycle outside the human being. The control may be brought about by:- Reducing the host reservoir.
- Protecting the susceptible individuals
Methods of Vector Control
- Reducing the host reservoir.
Control the vector population
- killing adults with insecticides
- killing larva with larvicides
- Prevention of breeding sites by environmental sanitation.
- Protecting the susceptible individuals
- Use of insecticide treated nets
- Use of chemoprophylaxis
- Use of repellents and protective clothing.
