Vector-borne Transmission: Difference between revisions
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Latest revision as of 09:39, 4 November 2020
1. Vector-borne transmission is the process whereby any living creatures (or invertebrate animals) transmits an infectious agents to humans.
 Related Terms: Direct Transmission, Indirect Transmission, Vehicle-borne Transmission, Airborne Transmission
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2. Vector-borne transmission: When researchers talk about vectors, often they are talking about insects, which as a group of invertebrate animals carry a host of different infectious agents. (However, a vector can be any living creature that transmits an infectious agent to humans.)
Notes: Vectors may mechanically spread the infectious agent, such as a virus or parasite. In this scenario the vector—for instance a mosquito— contaminates its feet or proboscis ("nose") with the infectious agent, or the agent passes through its gastrointestinal tract. The agent is transmitted from the vector when it bites or touches a person. In the case of an insect, the infectious agent may be injected with the insect's salivary fluid when it bites. Or the insect may regurgitate material or deposit feces on the skin, which then enter a person's body, typically through a bite wound or skin that has been broken by scratching or rubbing. In the case of some infectious agents, vectors are only capable of transmitting the disease during a certain time period. In these situations, vectors play host to the agent. The agent needs the host to develop and mature or to reproduce (multiply) or both (called cyclopropagative). Once the agent is within the vector animal, an incubation period follows during which the agent grows or reproduces, or both, depending on the type of agent. Only after this phase is over does the vector become infective. That is, only then can it transmit an agent that is capable of causing disease in the person.
(Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)