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Review
. 2020 Mar;20(3):159-170.
doi: 10.1089/vbz.2018.2432. Epub 2019 Dec 3.

Patterns, Drivers, and Challenges of Vector-Borne Disease Emergence

Andrea Swei  1 , Lisa I Couper  2 , Lark L Coffey  3 , Durrell Kapan  4 , Shannon Bennett  4
Affiliations
Review

Patterns, Drivers, and Challenges of Vector-Borne Disease Emergence

Andrea Swei et al. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2020 Mar.

Abstract

Vector-borne diseases are emerging at an increasing rate and comprise a disproportionate share of all emerging infectious diseases. Yet, the key ecological and evolutionary dimensions of vector-borne disease that facilitate their emergence have not been thoroughly explored. This study reviews and synthesizes the existing literature to explore global patterns of emerging vector-borne zoonotic diseases (VBZDs) under changing global conditions. We find that the vast majority of emerging VBZDs are transmitted by ticks (Ixodidae) and mosquitoes (Culicidae) and the pathogens transmitted are dominated by Rickettsiaceae bacteria and RNA viruses (Flaviviridae, Bunyaviridae, and Togaviridae). The most common potential driver of these emerging zoonoses is land use change, but for many diseases, the driver is unknown, revealing a critical research gap. While most reported VBZDs are emerging in the northern latitudes, after correcting for sampling bias, Africa is clearly a region with the greatest share of emerging VBZD. We highlight critical gaps in our understanding of VBZD emergence and emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary research and consideration of deeper evolutionary processes to improve our capacity for anticipating where and how such diseases have and will continue to emerge.

Keywords: global change; infectious disease; mosquito; tick; vector-borne; zoonotic.

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Conflict of interest statement

No conflicting financial interests exist.

Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Histogram showing the (a) primary vector types and (b) vector families of the 131 emerging vector-borne diseases identified. Eleven independent vector types and 13 vector families were identified. Some diseases were found to be vectored by multiple arthropods types and are categorized as such.
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
Count of disease types categorized by (a) pathogen types and (b) pathogen family.
FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.
Histogram showing locations of emerging vector-borne pathogens by continent (a) without and (b) with a surveillance bias correction.
FIG. 4.
FIG. 4.
Emerging vector-borne disease events shown by latitude.
FIG. 5.
FIG. 5.
Putative drivers of vector-borne disease emergence as specified by primary literature authors.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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