Mechanical transmission or dissemination of infectious pathogens/parasites by arthropods

Published on October 26, 2010 Reviewed on April 12, 2022   32 min

A selection of talks on Clinical Practice

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0:00
My name is Lane Foil. I'm a Professor of Entomology at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. And the subject of my lecture is mechanical transmission of disease agents by arthropods.
0:18
The basic difference between biological transmission and mechanical transmission is that in biological transmission, the agent develops and/or propagates within the vector, while in mechanical transmission, the simple transfer of agents from one infected host or a contaminated substrate to a susceptible host occurs. I've broken the lecture down into two basic types of mechanical transmission, one being direct mechanical transmission-- that is when agents are transferred directly between two hosts-- or indirect, or contaminative mechanical transmission, and that is when arthropods transmit pathogens picked up from contaminated sources.
1:03
As far back as 1800s, mechanical transmission studies were conducted when associations of arthropods and disease were made. But even when experimental evidence is obtained, vehicles of mechanical transmission other than arthropods often exist. For example, if feces is a source of the pathogen, and the fly is the vector, the fecal oral route should be considered, plus food handlers, or farm workers. If a purulent lesion is the source of the pathogen and a fly is a vector, direct contact may also be a mechanism of transfer of the agent. If blood is the source, and the fly is the vector, multiple use needles should be considered. Thus, the relative importance of mechanical transmission of agents by arthropods in epidemiology is often situational.

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