Vector-Borne/Zoonotic Diseases

Zoonotic diseases are spread from animals to humans by direct contact with the infected animal (or its bodily fluids), ingesting infected meat or animal-contaminated food or water, or by an intermediary vector (“vector-borne”) such as mosquitoes, fleas, lice and ticks. Some vector-borne diseases have been globally eradicated. Others are currently rare in the United States while continuing to afflict large segments of the global population. A few seem to be increasing in incidence, in part due to global warming and the associated prolongation of breeding periods and the spread of viable insect habitat. Additionally, ever-increasing insecticide resistance has hampered global efforts in controlling mosquitoes and other disease-transmitting vectors. The vector-borne/zoonotic diseases discussed in this chapter, along with their historical names and monikers, are: Plague (Bubonic Plague, Black Death), Yellow Fever (Bronze John, Yellow Jack), Typhus (Ship Fever, Jail Fever), Malaria (Swamp Fever, Ague, Congestive Fever), Dengue (Breakbone Fever, Seven-day Fever), Rabies, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (Black Measles).