Preface

This book is about a group of diseases that can infect humans and animals and that are transmitted by vectors, and are called vector-borne zoonotic diseases. These diseases and the vectors that carry the causative agents are known terms in human and animal medicine, because of their effect on public health in general. In this book, the authors have tried to show which vectors and diseases are the most interesting, having in mind that their spreading represents a danger to public health.

*Vectors and Vector-Borne Zoonotic Diseases* is not meant just for veterinarians, but for medical doctors and entomologists too. It is intended to be used by experts and also by students, animal owners, nature lovers, etc. The book has several sections: "Introduction," "Vectors," "Vector-Borne Diseases and Pathogens," and "Vector Control." Each of the sections is about one stage of vector-borne diseases. Each group of authors has dedicated their work to one of the topics with key roles on pathogens or vectors that are of great public health interest in their country or region.

The "Introduction" is about the terms that are used in the book and the current state of knowledge on vector-borne diseases: why are they spreading and which factors can influence their appearance. The section on "Vectors" has two chapters: one is about mosquitoes that probably carry the largest number of different pathogens and the other is about a specific tick as a vector. In the section on "Vector-Borne Diseases and Pathogens" the authors share their experiences with certain vector-borne diseases that represent a public health threat in their countries. The authors deal with the actual dangers associated with vector-borne pathogens, which are increasing all the time. The section on "Vector Control" is just the tip of the iceberg…it is possible to devote a whole book just to this topic.

This book is the work of scientists and researchers as a contribution to the general knowledge and sophisticated expertise of vectors and vector-borne zoonotic diseases. With this book, we hope to broaden reader's knowledge, point out the existence of some vector-borne diseases, and show an interest in any new achievements in this area of research, with the aim to upgrade the knowledge of general public health from a One Health perspective.

As the editor, I would like to dedicate this book to all the researchers, experts, colleagues, students, and others working hard protecting the public health status.

> **Sara Savić, PhD, DVM** Senior Research Associate, Scientific Veterinary Institute "Novi Sad", Department for Serology, Immunology, and Biochemistry, Novi Sad, Serbia

**1**

Section 1

Introduction

Section 1 Introduction

**3**

disease.

**Chapter 1**

*Sara Savić*

**1. Introduction**

them—again, across the globe.

strains of the same pathogen.

• specific for a certain pathogen; and

• available to most of the laboratories in the world.

methods which are:

Introductory Chapter: Vectors and

Vector-Borne Pathogens around Us

The book "Vectors and Vector-Borne Zoonotic Diseases" is about the vectors of diseases and the pathogens they can carry and transmit. The topic of vector-borne diseases is of high interest among many researchers around the world. There are more and more pathogens discovered or they are discovered in locations where they were not found before. There are also more and more hosts where the pathogens are

**2. The factors of the discovery of new and old vector-borne diseases**

In our modern times, it is possible to travel across the world in a day. Today one can reach a destination in less than 36 or even 24 h, for which in the past several days or a week was needed. Also, people travel more because of the globalization of business or different vacation options and very often they take their pets with

Besides that, today there are many highly developed diagnostic laboratory

These methods are based on molecular diagnostic procedures and have a possibility to detect new pathogens in different kind of samples and to detect different

There is also a factor of global warming and the adjustment of vectors to the climate changes. Some vectors in order to complete their life cycle need a certain temperature of the environment. Over a decade ago, some vectors could be found only in the Mediterranean region and now they can be found all the way in the Balkans. There was also seasonality in the appearance of some vectors, like ticks were not to be found from November until March in the countries with continental climate. Nowadays, in some countries, ticks can be found all around the year and they can also be found in north European countries. It seems like the vectors have a fantastic ability to adjust to climate changes, new locations, new hosts, and new pathogens, which all together makes them perfect organisms for spreading the

• sensitive and can detect a very small part of the pathogens (DNA);

discovered in, and there are several reasons for that.
