Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Apr 18;103(16):6242-7.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.0508391103. Epub 2006 Apr 10.

Global traffic and disease vector dispersal

Andrew J Tatem  1 , Simon I Hay, David J Rogers
Affiliations

Global traffic and disease vector dispersal

Andrew J Tatem et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

The expansion of global air travel and seaborne trade overcomes geographic barriers to insect disease vectors, enabling them to move great distances in short periods of time. Here we apply a coupled human-environment framework to describe the historical spread of Aedes albopictus, a competent mosquito vector of 22 arboviruses in the laboratory. We contrast this dispersal with the relatively unchanged distribution of Anopheles gambiae and examine possible future movements of this malaria vector. We use a comprehensive database of international ship and aircraft traffic movements, combined with climatic information, to remap the global transportation network in terms of disease vector suitability and accessibility. The expansion of the range of Ae. albopictus proved to be surprisingly predictable using this combination of climate and traffic data. Traffic volumes were more than twice as high on shipping routes running from the historical distribution of Ae. albopictus to ports where it has established in comparison with routes to climatically similar ports where it has yet to invade. In contrast, An. gambiae has rarely spread from Africa, which we suggest is partly due to the low volume of sea traffic from the continent and, until very recently, a European destination for most flights.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Old World distribution of Ae. albopictus (red), countries reporting established breeding populations of Ae. albopictus in the last 30 years (orange), and countries reporting Ae. albopictus interception at ports (yellow).
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Climatic similarity dendrogram for the major seaports of the world (A Inset) and the major international airports of the world (B Inset), with a sample of the branches relating to the spread of Ae. allopictus in close-up on each.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
The 10 sea traffic routes identified with the strongest risk factors for importation and establishment of each of four principal members of the An. gambiae complex. (A) An. gambiae sensu stricto (s.s.). (B) An. arabiensis. (C) An. quadriannulatus. (D) An. melas.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. McNeill W. H. Plagues and People. New York: Anchor; 1976.
    1. Tatem A. J., Rogers D. J., Hay S. I. Adv. Parasitol. 2006;62:297–347. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gillies M. T., De Meillon B. The Anopheline of Africa South of the Sahara. Johannesburg: South African Inst. for Medical Research; 1968.
    1. Gillies M. T., Coetzee M. A Supplement to the Anopheline of Africa South of the Sahara. Johannesburg: South African Inst. for Medical Research; 1987.
    1. Soper F. L., Wilson D. B. Anopheles gambiae in Brazil: 1930 to 1940. New York: Rockefeller Foundation; 1943.

Publication types