Abstract
The past few decades have seen the emergence of several worldwide arbovirus epidemics (chikungunya, Zika), the expansion or recrudescence of historical arboviruses (dengue, yellow fever), and the modification of the distribution area of major vector mosquitoes such as Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus, raising questions about the risk of appearance of new vectors and new epidemics. In this opinion piece, we review the factors that led to the emergence of yellow fever in the Americas, define the conditions for a mosquito to become a vector, analyse the recent example of the new status of Aedes albopictus from neglected mosquito to major vector, and propose some scenarios for the future.
Highlights
In a time of major social, climatic and environmental changes, several old concepts are back in fashion: “health is one”, “the microbe is nothing, the context is everything”(Antoine Béchamp, Louis Pasteur), “diseases will always continue to emerge” [1]
Ae. aegypti populations adapted to urbanisation and able to generate outbreaks. This village or urban yellow fever virus, already adapted to human and Ae. aegypti, was introduced into tropical America, probably via viremic people and/or Ae. aegypti transported on ships, during the triangular slave trade, which started in the 16th century [14,15]
The history of yellow fever leads us to the consideration of the factors necessary, but not always sufficient, for a mosquito species that was initially of little interest to humans, to become a public health problem and an enemy to fight
Summary
In a time of major social, climatic and environmental changes, several old concepts are back in fashion: “health is one” (one health approach), “the microbe is nothing, the context is everything”. (Antoine Béchamp, Louis Pasteur), “diseases will always continue to emerge” [1] All these old, but still very relevant views require a holistic approach, taking into account the complexity of interactions between diseases, microbes, hosts, vectors, environment, and their evolution as described by Mirko. Given that only a small minority of the thousands of mosquito species account for the vast majority of human diseases, “the mosquito” should be afforded the principal of “habeas corpus”, innocent until proven guilty. In this opinion piece, we discuss the factors that lead to the emergence of a vector in the human environment causing the transmission of viruses pathogenic to humans.
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