Vectors

Vectors
• In epidemiology, a vector is any agent
(person, animal or microorganism) that
carries and transmits an infectious agent
• Vectors are vehicles by which infections
are transmitted from one host to
another.
 Vectors
• Most commonly known vectors consist
of arthropods, domestic animals or
mammals.
• They transmit parasitic organisms to
humans or other mammals.
 Vectors

• A vector is required for part of the

parasite's developmental cycle,
• It also transmits the parasite directly to
subsequent hosts
 Vectors
They can be;
• Mechanical or
• Biological
 Arthropods
• Arthropods form a major group of
disease vectors
• Mosquitoes, flies, sand flies, lice, fleas,
ticks and mites transmitting a huge
number of diseases.
 Arthropods
• Many such vectors are haematophagous, -
feed on blood at some or all stages of their
lives.
• When the insects blood feed, the parasite
enters the blood stream of the host.
• This can happen in different ways.
 The Anopheles
• mosquito, a vector for
Malaria, Filariasis and
various arthropod-borne-viruses (
arboviruses),
• inserts its delicate mouthpart under the
skin and feeds on its host's blood.
 The Anopheles
• The parasites the mosquito carries are
usually located in its salivary glands (used by
mosquitoes to anaesthetise the host).
• Therefore, the parasites are transmitted
directly into the host's blood stream.
 Family Culicidae > 3500
species
3 subfamilies:
Anophelinae - Anopheles, Bironella and
Chagasia, ~ 500 species

Toxorhynchitinae - Toxorhynchites, 70+ species

(all non-bloodfeeding)

Culicinae - Aedes, Culex, Haemagogus, Mansonia,

Anophelinae
and all other genera, > 3000 species

Toxorhynchitinae
tim Culicinae 10
Anopheles mosquito life cycle

11
eg
gs

12
 Anopheline Culicine

Adult

13
 Genus Anopheles
6 subgenera:

Cellia - >230 species, most important Old

World malaria vectors (Africa and Asia)
Anopheles - >180 sp., were the most important
malaria vectors in Europe and N. America
Nyssorhynchus - >40 sp., most important
New World malaria vectors
Kertezia - >10 sp., NW, bromeliads
Lophopodomyia – 6 sp., NW tropics
Stethomyia – 5 sp., NW tropics

14
 Anopheles Habitat Preferences
 Effects of human activities
 Major malaria vectors tend to be colonizing
species in temporary habitats free of
established predators
 They have evolved with humans to take
advantage of these environments

15
LARVAL HABITAT - An. albimanus in Cuba

WHO/TDR/Service,
1992 16
 LARVAL HABITAT -
An. bellator in Brazil
from bromeliades

WHO/TDR/Service, 17
1992
LARVAL HABITAT - An. pseudopunctipennis in Mexico

WHO/TDR/Service,
1992 18
LARVAL HABITAT - An. stephensi from
water tanks on rooftops in Dubai

WHO/TDR/Service,
1992 19
TDR/Lindsay, 1991 LARVAL HABITAT -
Irrigation ditches
provide Anopheles
breeding sites in the
Gambia

WHO/TDR/Olliaro, 1

LARVAL HABITAT -
Standing water
created by road
building in Benin
20
LARVAL HABITAT - Rice fields and irrigated areas provide
Anopheles breeding sites in Viet Nam and the Gambia

WHO/TDR/Lindsay, 1991
21
Water storage
pots, breeding
site of An.
gambiae and
other
mosquitoes in
Nigeria

WHO/TDR/Ragavoodo
Roof water
breeding site of
An. arabiensis in
Mauritius

22
 Biology of Anopheles gambiae

Anopheles
gambiae

WHO/TDR/HOLT Studios, 1992

23
 Anopheles gambiae
 Major malaria vector in sub-Saharan Africa
 Typical anopheline life cycle, but extreme
preference for living around and feeding on
humans
 Preferred oviposition sites – small temporary
pools in full sunlight
 Seasonal abundance correlates with rainfall

24
 Anopheles gambiae – life cycle
 Other sites – irrigated areas (rice fields); drying
streams in dry season; habitats created by
humans
 Eggs laid on water or damp soil; hatch 48 hr. – 2
weeks
 Larvae can crawl across damp soil from drying
pool to another with water
 Larval development - <week with sufficient
temperature and food

25
 Anopheles gambiae – life cycle
 Larvae are filter feeders on surface film –
algae and bacteria
 Pupation in full sunlight – can be induced in
laboratory with light
 Pupal development in 24 hr. – 3 days;
temperature dependent
 Adult emergence at night
 Both sexes need 24 hr. to reach sexual
maturity – male terminalia (genitalia)
rotate 180.
26
Mosquito Emerging
from Pupal Exuvia

27
 Anopheles gambiae – adult behavior
 Male mosquito swarming behavior – females
fly into swarm to mate (not well documented
in wild An. gambiae but does occur in lab
colonies).
 Male activity increases at sundown. Changes
in antennae (plumes folded up during day –
open to detect female flight sound; Johnston's
organ)
 Males attracted to females and mate in flight –
females probably mate only once (?) – store
sperm in spermathecae
28
 Anopheles gambiae – host seeking
 Mated An. gambiae females seek blood at
night (after sundown) - ~90% of bloodmeals
taken from sleeping human hosts and they
usually rest on the inside walls of the house to
digest the meal
 Egg development takes about 48 hrs during
warm season – longer in cooler weather
 Oviposition occurs at night – usually the 2nd
night after a bloodmeal

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 Anopheles gambiae – host seeking

 The female then searches for another bloodmeal -

during warm season, a female is capable of
ovipositing every other night
 This behavior has implications for the timing of host
seeking by An. gambiae females – early evening
blood-seeking females are probably feeding for the
first time (they have not laid eggs yet – nulliparous),
while older (parous) females tend to seek blood later
at night (they have to oviposit first)

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 Anopheles gambiae – host seeking
 Extrinsic incubation period (minimum) of
Plasmodium falciparum in the mosquito is 8-10 days
– so under ideal conditions, the female would take 5-
6 bloodmeals in the process of acquiring parasites
and living long enough to transmit them (about 2
weeks)
 In real life…environmental factors will usually affect
time line – temperature, rainfall, wind will interfere
with the ability to oviposit and blood-feed at will.
Most field collected An. gambiae females with P.
falciparum sporozoites in their salivary glands have
taken 3-4 blood meals
31
Physiology of
Gonotrophic
Cycle

• If, after locating host and ingesting blood, the blood meal is large,
distention-induced host seeking inhibition is triggered
• This tapers off as the blood is assimilated and excreted
• Eggs mature producing oocyte-induced host-seeking inhibition, which
gradually develops and then fades
• Mature eggs induce preovipostion behavior, leading to oviposition
32
 Other factors influencing host seeking…
 Host defensive behavior
 Mosquito age – older mosquitoes more likely to seek blood
even when gravid
 Larval nutrition – if poor, blood may go to support adult
metabolism
 Mating status – unmated less likely to host seek
 Nutritional status of male with which female mated – poor
nutrition in male results in more host seeking
 Mosquito species – some, such as An. gambiae, host seek
every 24 hrs. until replete (even if gravid!)
 All of these factors potentially contribute to multiple
bloodmeals per gonotrophic cycle, increasing the potential for
malaria transmission
33
Malaria Parasite-Vector Relationships

• Malaria Transmission Cycle

• Parasite Infection Specificity

• Mosquito Immune Defenses

34
 Structure of salivary glands
• Structure varies among insect phyla
• In mosquitoes, salivary glands of both sexes are
paired organs located in the thorax, and each
gland consists of 3 lobes connected to a main
salivary gland duct (male sg’s small)
• Female sg’s have two identical lateral lobes and
one shorter medium lobe. Lateral lobes can be
divided according to proximal and distal regions
(different regions secrete different proteins)

35
 Function of the salivary glands
• Saliva contains enzymes that digest
sugars
• Salivary gland secretions play a role in the
maintenance of feeding mouthparts -
saliva acts as a lubricant
• In ticks, water in ingested blood is cycled
back through the sg’s where it is returned
to the host

36
 Salivary Glands and Bloodfeeding
• Salivary glands produce a saliva that facilitates rapid and
efficient feeding (hemagglutinin, anticoagulant,
antiplatelet activity, vasodilators)

• Parasites can increase the probability of their

transmission by modifying arthropod salivary activities

• Malaria sporozoites infect the female-specific salivary

gland lobes (distal-lateral and medial)

37
 Salivary Glands and Bloodfeeding -2
• Parasite invasion causes cellular damage in the glands
– 4-5x reduction in apyrase activity
• The salivary apyrases of blood-feeding arthropods are
nucleotide hydrolysing enzymes and have been
implicated in the inhibition of host platelet aggregation
through the hydrolysis of extracellular ADP.
• Sporozoite-infected mosquitoes take longer to probe –
more sporozoites released
• Also, more interrupted feedings – bite more frequently
before achieving successful bloodmeal

38
 Possible outcomes following exposure
of an arthropod to a parasite

• susceptible arthropod: the parasite receives

appropriate stimuli from the biochemical
environment and develops successfully
• resistant arthropod: some or all of the parasites are
recognized as foreign by the cellular/humoral
components in the hemolymph, and the arthropod
immune response sequesters and destroys parasite
• refractory arthropod: the parasites do not elicit an
immune response but they fail to develop due to
physiological or biochemical incompatability

39
 Cellular immunity in insects

• Phagocytosis. In mosquitoes,
phagocytosis activity is a function of the
numbers of hemocytes present
• Encapsulation. The main defense
mechanism of insects against invaders
too large to be phagocytosed is
encapsulation. Phenol oxidase enzymes
are involved in melanotic encapsulation of
parasites (worms and malaria parasites)
40
 Summary
• Anopheles gambiae is well adapted to take advantage of
temporary aquatic habitat associated with human activities
(farming, construction, etc.)

• Behaviors such as preferential feeding on humans and

resting in homes keep it closely associated with us.

• The association between Anopheles mosquito and

Plasmodium parasite is controlled by a series of physical,
physiological and biochemical interactions, which may lead
to a successful infection followed by transmission to a new
host.

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 Vector control methods

– Indoor residual spraying (IRS)

– Use of personal protection measures e.g. ITNs,
repellents etc
– Larviciding
– Biological control
– Environmental management
– Education
– Integrated mosquito management
 Scale up Vector Control measures

• Combination of personal and community

protective measures e.g. ITNs and LLITNs
e.g. ITNs for everyone at risk of malaria,
especially children and pregnant women.

• Framework of ITNs
= “Catch up” coverage and “Keep up” coverage
strategy
 Roles of RBM
• 1o goal is to provide a coordinated global
approach to fighting malaria
• Lead in advocacy campaigns to raise
awareness of malaria at the global, regional,
national and community levels
• Mobilize resources for malaria control and
research into new and more effective tools
• Ensure that vulnerable individuals are key
participants in rolling back of malaria
• Formulate task forces to carry out RBM tasks
 In Africa, the most common
vector is Anopheles and in
the Americas,
it is Culex quinquefasciatus.
Aedes and Mansonia can
transmit the infection in the
Pacific and in Asia.

An Anopheles
Many species in
Illustration of Culex quinquefasciatus, a vector of
lymphatic filariasis. Credit: CDC
 Sand fly, and black fly

• Vectors for Leishmaniasis and Onchocerciasis

respectively,
• They chew a well in the host's skin, from which they
feed.
• Leishmania parasites infect the host through the
saliva of the sand fly.
• Onchocerca force their own way out of the insect's
head into the pool of blood.
Black
fly of
the
genus
Simuli
um
 Fleas
• Are wingless insects with powerful hind leg
• Have spines around the head and thorax
• Muscular pharynx and long esophagus
• Spiny valve with row of teeth like cells
 Fleas
• Are more of nuisance than a health hazard
• Fleas such as the human flea, Pulex irritans
and the Oriental rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis,
transmit bubonic plague, murine typhus and
tapeworms (Dipylidium caninum).
 Flea Control
• Malathion, Chlordane in kerosene, Lindane
dusts or sprays
• Insect repellants OFF!, other DEET (N,N-
Diethyl-meta-toluamide) and pyrethrum
preparations.
 Other vectors
• Aedes mosquitoes are vectors of avian malaria,
dengue fever, yellow fever and chikungunya
• Bats which represent 24% of all known mammalian
species act as both a natural reservoirs for viruses such
as the Hendra virus (HeV) and the SARS like
coronaviruses and in many cases as a vector for various
viruses such as the lyssaviruses including the rabies virus.
 Other vectors
• Cyclopoid copepods; a number of species transmit
the nematode Dracunculus medinensis.
• Domestic cats are the primary host species for
Toxoplasma gondii a species of parasitic protozoa
which causes Toxoplasmosis.
• Approximately 30% of the human population is
infected with Toxoplasmosis
 Other vectors
• Mosquitoes of the Anopheles genus transmit
human malaria
• Phlebotomine sand flies transmit
leishmaniasis, bartonellosis, sandfly fever and
pappataci fever
 Other vectors
• Ticks of the genus Ixodes are vectors of Lyme
disease and babesiosis and along with lice
transmit various members of the bacterial
genus Rickettsia.
 Other vectors
Triatomine bugs such as Rhodnius prolixus are
vectors of Chagas disease.
• Tsetse flies Several genera are vectors of
human African trypanosomiasis also known as
"African sleeping sickness"
 Scabies
• It is a mite disease caused by Sarcoptes
scabies
• Characterized by itchy rash; btn the fingers,
under the breast, and in the genital area
• Commonly acquired during sexually
intercourse
 Scabies
Distribution:
• Circle of Hebra
• Imaginary circle intersecting
sites of prediction – areolae,
axillae, elbow flexures, wrists,
finger webs, umbilicus, lower
abdomen, genitalia
Tunnels in the epidermis

66
 Scabies

• Transmission requires close personal contact.

Mite survives only for a short time off the body

• Diagnosis
– Symptoms and history (1st infestation may take 2-3
weeks to itch, second itches much sooner)
– Skin scraping for mites, eggs and fecal pellets
– Mites and eggs are NOT visible to naked eye

67
 Scabies mite, eggs and
Scabies feces in burrows
Diagnosis
Eggs, fecal pellets and mites seen in skin scrapings
seen in skin scrapings

Morse et al: Atlas of

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

medent.usyd.edu.au/photos/
68
mite_photos.htm
 Include superinfection

sted (Norwegian) scabies

munosuppressed patients
ssive numbers of mites
Crusted scabies

69
 Scabies
• Papular and burrow-type lesions
• Face and scalp spared in adults, but not in infants or
immunosuppressed.
• Burrows may be barely visible
• Dull red nodules persist in groin, called nodular scabies,
may persist after cure, histo = pseudolymphoma
• Norwegian – heavy crusting, scaling most common in
malnourished, immuno-suppressed
Sarcoptes scabiei

Mineral
oil or
Acry-
 Scabies Treatment
• Norwegian: Ivermectin 200mg/kg weekly x 3.
• Permethrin 5% cream from head to toe at
night, rinse off in AM x 3. May repeat weekly.
 Scabies Treatment
• Lindane rarely neurotoxic to infants
• Infants and Pregnant women 6-10%
precipitated sulfur in petrolatum applied
nightly x 3 nights
• Treat family members
Tsetsefly
African Trypanosomiasis
The Life Cycle

Human Tse fly

Trypomastigote Trypomastigote
Stumpy Metacyclic
Intermediate Epimastigote
Slender Trypomastigote
 Causal Agents

• Caused by the protozoan

Trypanosoma Brucei
• Has three subspecies:
– Trypanosoma brucei
gambiense
– Trypanosoma brucei
rhodesiense
– Trypanosoma brucei brucei
(animals only)
 Vector Biology

• The vector for HAT is the tsetse

fly
• Biological Vector
• Inhabits rural areas
• Bites during daytime hours
• Both males and females are
capable of carrying and
transmitting the disease.
 Vector Biology Cont’d
• Tsetse flies belong to the genus
Glossina

• Glossina contains 3 subgroups

– Glossina (includes G.
morsitans group)
– Nemorhina (includes G.
palpalis group)
– Austenina (includes G. fusca
group)
 Vector Biology Cont’d
• Vectors of T.b. gambiense
– G. palpalis & G.
tachinoides groups

• Vectors of T.b.
rhodesiense
– G. morsitans, G.
swynnertoni, & G.
pallidipes groups
 Reservoirs
T.b. gambiense T.b. rhodesiense
Transmission Cycle
 Risk Factors
• Civil Disturbance/War
• Cattle Movements
• Population
Movements/Migrations
(Refugees)
• Reduced Health Program
Financing
• Rural Living Environment
 Geographical Distribution
• 1998- World Health Organization states that there are over 200 active foci
of HAT between latitude 15 degrees north and 15 degrees south (“tsetse
belt”).
• T.b. gambiense is mostly found in western and central Africa.
– Over 95% of the cases of human infection found in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Angola, Sudan, Central African Republic, Chad, and
northern Uganda.
• T.b. rhodesiense is found mostly in eastern and southern Africa.
– Over 95% of the cases of human infection occur in Tanzania, Uganda,
Malawi, and Zambia.
Geographical Distribution Cont’d
Geographical Distribution/Conflict
• The resurgence of HAT in several countries has been
attributed to conflict and/or war.

• Cases of HAT have been seen to occur significantly more

often in countries where there is conflict, internationalized
civil war, and/or high political terror.
 Geographical Distribution/Conflict
Cont’d
• Forced population movement
increases transmission.
• Migration causes trypanosomes
to circulate from high-incidence
to low-incidence areas.
• Conflict causes breakdown of
control measures and
surveillance, increasing disease
spread
Reduviid
bug
 Hemiptera – Reduviid Bug Bites
• Aka Kissing Bug, Assasin bug, conenoses
• Attack face when asleep, bite is painless, bug
defecates and rubs feces into wound,
spreading Trypanosoma cruzi
 Prevention
• Vector control
• Mainly focused on tsetse fly traps and insecticide-
treated screens
• Blue traps that attract flies are generally used
• Insecticide impregnation needs to be repeated every
three to four months, necessitating sustained
programs in order for this approach to be effective
 Prevention…
• Ground or aerial spraying of insecticides in
tsetse breeding sites can be employed
• Clearing the forest around villages that forms
the usual habitat for the flies can also be
helpful
• Improved housing, and insect control

• No vaccine is available
 Control
Destruction of animal reservoir
Vector Control
Diagnosis & treatment