Chapter 5

Zoonotic & Vector-Borne Diseases

• Medicine & public health made great strides toward control of infectious diseases during the past centuries.
• Medical advances included immunization, use of antibodies to treat & decline mortality rates.
• As well as improved sanitation, disinfection of drinking water etc. were done.

Terminology used in the context

• Pathologic agents for diseases in this category involve ;

- Prions, viruses, bacteria, protozoa & helminths

Zoonosis →

• Refers to an infection or infectious disease transmissible under natural conditions from vertebrates to
humans.
• Methods of transmission of zoonotic diseases ;
- Contact with skin
- Inhalation or ingestion
- Bite from an arthropod
• Children under 5, immunocompromised individuals & infants are at a high risk of developing these diseases.

Vector →

• Refers to an insect or a living carrier that transports an infectious agent from infected individual to a healthy
individual.
• Vectors include ; rodents (mice) & arthropods (mosquitoes, ticks, flies etc.)

Vector-Borne infection →

• Refers to several classes of infections, each with epidemiological features determined by the interaction
between the infectious agent & human host as well as the vector.
• Environmental factors, climate & seasonal variation can influence these interactions.
• Biological transmission ; refers to transmission of an infectious agent via a bite of blood-feeding vector.
Vector-Borne Diseases

1. Malaria
• Found in more than 100 countries.
• Endemic to warmer geographical areas. (SA, south Asia, middle east etc.)
• Children are at a greater risk.
• Initially it was thought that malaria originated around dank atm around swamps.
• But its transmitted by Anopheles mosquito, contaminated syringes or via blood transfusion.
• 4 forms of malarial parasite are ;
- Plasmodium falciparum - P. ovale
- P. vivax - P. malariae
• Symptoms include →
- Fever - Fatigue
- Headache - Shaking chills
- Muscle aches - Jaundice (due to loss of RBC)

Life cycle

• The anopheles mosquito bites an infected host, sporozoite forms enter blood of the human.
 • They multiply in the liver (exo-erythrocytic cycle) then enters the RBC (erythrocytic cycle).
• In the cells they produce gametocytes that enters a new mosquito when it bites.
• Within the mosquito, sporogenic cycle occurs & oocysts are produced.
• These are then transferred into the human for another cycle.

**Use of DDT & antimalarial drugs has been effective in treating & eradicating malaria.

2. Leishmaniasis

• 3 forms of leishmaniasis are ;

- Visceral
- Cutaneous
- Mucocutaneous
• Cutaneous form is transmitted by a bit by an infected sand fly.
• After been bitten, the host develops a sore on the skin.
• At the site of the bite, a localized reaction occurs & thus a papule forms. (a raised solid pimple or swelling)
• Subsequently ulceration, healing & scar forms.
• Reservoirs for cutaneous form ;
- Rodents
- Human beings
- Carnivores

Life cycle

• When sand fly takes a blood meal, promastigotes are introduced into the blood.
• Thus are phagocytized. They there transform into amastigotes in macrophages.
• Amastigotes multiply can cause the disease.
• When the fly takes another bite, amastigotes enter.
• Amastigotes transform into promastigote in the fly’s midgut.
• They then enter the human host with another bite.

*Increased urbanization, extensive agricultural projects & increased human population have contributed to
increased incidence of leishmaniasis.

* Methods of control →

- Periodic application of insecticides

- Use of screens to prevent flies entering

- Elimination of breeding sites of flies

- Destruction of rodent burrows & control of domestic dogs

 3. plague

• Bacteria Yersinia pestis is the infectious agent.

• Infect both animals & humans.
• Transmitted by the bite of flea harbored rodent.
• One on the natural reservoirs → squirrels
• The bubonic plague has symptoms like ;
- Fever - Headache
- Chills - Lymphadenitis
• Involvement of the lungs may produce pneumonic plague. (transmitted by respiratory droplets)
• To prevent transmission → handle the clothing of the infected person with cautious
Isolation & quarantine of the patients

4. Lyme Disease

• Causative agent → bacterium Borrelia Burgdorferi

• Transmission occurs by ; black-legged ticks (Ixodes Scapularis)
• Those at high risk of infection include ;
- People coming in contact with tick-infested areas
• Treatment → usually antibiotics
• Prevention → reducing exposure to ticks
Wearing light color to help identify ticks in infested areas

5. rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

• Caused by Rickettsia rickettsii

• Transmitted by a bite of a tick.
• Febrile disease with sudden long-lasting fever.
• Other symptoms ; rash, headache & chills
• Treated with → antibiotics
• RMSF can also occur in wild & domestic animals (dogs)

Viral Hemorrhagic Fever

• This is a group of illnesses caused by viruses.

• In these diseases ; overall vascular system will be damaged.
• Symptoms will accompany hemorrhage.