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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Mark Booth
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2017 The Authors. Many important and rapidly emerging pathogens of humans, livestock and wildlife are ‘vector-borne’. However, the term ‘vector’ has been applied to diverse agents in a broad range of epidemiological systems. In this perspective, we briefly review some common definitions, identify the strengths and weaknesses of each and consider the functional differences between vectors and other hosts from a range of ecological, evolutionary and public health perspectives. We then consider how the use of designations can afford insights into our understanding of epidemiological and evolutionary processes that are not otherwise apparent. We conclude that from a medical and veterinary perspective, a combination of the ‘haematophagous arthropod’ and ‘mobility’ definitions is most useful because it offers important insights into contact structure and control and emphasizes the opportunities for pathogen shifts among taxonomically similar species with similar feeding modes and internal environments. From a population dynamics and evolutionary perspective, we suggest that a combination of the ‘micropredator’ and ‘sequential’ definition is most appropriate because it captures the key aspects of transmission biology and fitness consequences for the pathogen and vector itself. However, we explicitly recognize that the value of a definition always depends on the research question under study.
Author(s): Wilson AJ, Morgan ER, Booth M, Norman R, Perkins SE, Hauffe HC, Mideo N, Antonovics J, McCallum H, Fenton A
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Year: 2017
Volume: 372
Issue: 1719
Print publication date: 05/05/2017
Online publication date: 05/03/2017
Acceptance date: 15/09/2016
Date deposited: 24/08/2017
ISSN (print): 0962-8436
ISSN (electronic): 1471-2970
Publisher: Royal Society
URL: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0085
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0085
PubMed id: 28289253
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