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Vector-Borne DiseasesVector-borne diseases are caused by pathogens like parasites, viruses, and bacteria, and spread to humans by a carrier—formally called a vector. Vectors are often blood-sucking organisms such as mosquitoes, ticks, and sandflies. Malaria, dengue, and Lyme are common vector-borne diseases.
More than half of the world's population is at risk of contracting vector-borne diseases, but they disproportionately affect poor populations in tropical and subtropical areas. In total, they kill more than 700,000 people each year.
Vaccinations, window screens, insecticides, and clearing stagnant water all help to prevent many of these infections. Beyond vaccination research, ongoing gene-editing work in the lab seeks to slash the transmission of vector-borne disease, possibly by rendering disease-carrying mosquitoes infertile. Other proposed solutions include infecting mosquitoes with naturally occurring bacteria called Wolbachia to either reduce specific mosquito populations entirely or block viral replication in mosquito tissues, thereby helping fight diseases including dengue, Zika, and chikungunya.Explore Vector-Borne Diseases
What we've found
Vector-borne diseases kill more than 700,000 people globally each year—and are growingThe diseases with the greatest potential to spread widely aren't the ones that quickly kill human hosts. Instead, the best hosts or reservoirs for vector-borne diseases would be chronically ill over the long term, increasing the likelihood that the pathogen could be transmitted to others. See this diverse list of vector-borne diseasesHuman illnesses caused by parasites, viruses, and bacteria, and transmitted by a living organism—often small, bloodsucking ones like mosquitoes, ticks, and sandflies—are known as vector-borne diseases. That carrier is called a vector. These diseases disproportionately affect the poorest populations in tropical and subtropical areas. World Health OrganizationLyme disease is the most common vector-borne illness in the USIn the US, ticks account for 90% of all disease transmission from bites, including mosquitoes. And Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the US overall, with estimates suggesting there are about 475,000 Lyme cases annually across the nation. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
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