Book

Description

Global concern about mosquito-borne diseases is growing due to the rising incidence of illnesses such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika. Approximately 350 million people are affected annually, with an estimated 8 billion people living at risk of acquiring one or more mosquito-borne diseases worldwide. Globalization, unplanned urbanization, the emergence of unorganized human settlements with poor infrastructure, climate change, and land-use change have contributed to geographical expansion and global re-emergence of mosquito-borne diseases. For example, the incidence of dengue has increased more than 30-fold in recent decades, and outbreaks of chikungunya, yellow fever, and malaria have increased several-fold since 2014. The recent surge of malaria in India has created uncertainty in its goal of eliminating the disease by 2030, and rising Zika virus outbreaks in many Latin American countries and the Caribbean have caused large-scale socioeconomic disruptions. Increased vector survival and biting rates, reduced doubling times of pathogens within vectors, shortened reproduction periods, and longer transmission seasons due to global warming are expected to further intensify the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases. Most mosquito-borne diseases are gradually expanding in their spatial range, emerging in previously unaffected areas, and re-emerging in areas where they have waned for several years. By 2050, nearly half of the world's population is expected to be at a risk of arbovirus transmission. This book is a collection of Dr Muniaraj Mayilsamy's research works that presents some of the novel approaches and latest research in the field of vectors and vector-borne diseases.