Insect vectors of disease

Entomoses

Nature

Insects are the most important vectors of disease, being prominent in the transfer of human, animal and plant diseases.

Incidence

Examples of insect vector-borne diseases are sleeping sickness transmitted by the tsetse fly; Chagas disease, transmitted by a triatomid bug; onchocerciasis, a filarial disease carried by a black fly, Simulium spp; Bancroftian and Brugian filariases, transmitted by various species of mosquitoes in urban and rural areas; dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever, transmitted by Aedes aegypti, a mosquito; yellow fever, also transmitted by A aegypti and other Aedes spp.

Counter-claim

Frankly, the concern over insect vectors of disease is vastly overblown. With modern medicine, hygiene, and pest control, the threat they pose is minimal in most parts of the world. Resources would be better spent on more pressing issues like chronic diseases or mental health. Obsessing over mosquitoes and ticks is outdated; we have far more effective ways to manage these minor nuisances than to treat them as a major public health crisis.