Vector-Borne Disease Spatial Epidemiology, Disease Ecology, and Zoonoses

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

Disease vectors and their associated pathogens are found across a wide range of environments around the globe, placing more than half of the human population at risk and directly impacting nearly a quarter of the world’s population each year. Vector-borne diseases account for more than 17% of all infectious diseases. Furthermore, arboviruses represent 37% of all emerging human diseases, with 75% of new emerging diseases originating in animal populations. Arthropods including mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, and flies constitute the most recognized disease vectors, and efforts to control their populations result in a tremendous public health burden. In fact, climate change models predict that new and emerging vector-borne diseases will rapidly increase and greatly impact human health, owing to potential changes in weather patterns and temperature that are conducive to increases in vector populations, the expansion of available vector breeding habitats, and decreases in pathogen incubation periods. Spatial ecology incorporating aspects of epidemiology, disease ecology, arthropod vector ecology, and zoonoses provides an important context for understanding vector-borne diseases, directly incorporating temporal and/or spatial components for analyzing trends and patterns among hosts, pathogens, and vectors.

The goal of this topic, “Vector-Borne Disease Spatial Epidemiology, Disease Ecology, and Zoonoses”, is to publish manuscripts that directly incorporate scale (time and/or space) into understanding vector-borne disease patterns and processes and, ultimately, how these patterns and processes potentially impact human and/or animal health. Manuscripts may focus on disease vectors, arthropods of medical and veterinary importance, vector-borne pathogens, zoonotic diseases, emerging diseases, mathematical/statistical modeling, etc., provided that spatial epidemiology and disease vectors are functionally incorporated into the thesis of the manuscript. Manuscripts that incorporate a One-Health perspective are particularly welcome.

Dr. Chad L. Cross
Dr. Louisa Alexandra Messenger
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Infectious Disease Reports idr	3.4	5.1	2009	32.4 Days	CHF 1800	Submit
Insects insects	2.7	5.1	2010	16.7 Days	CHF 2600	Submit
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ijerph	-	7.3	2004	25.8 Days	CHF 2500	Submit
Pathogens pathogens	3.3	6.4	2012	15.3 Days	CHF 2200	Submit
Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease tropicalmed	2.8	3.9	2016	19.2 Days	CHF 2700	Submit
Zoonotic Diseases zoonoticdis	-	-	2021	30 Days	CHF 1000	Submit

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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All Infectious Disease Reports Insects IJERPH Pathogens TropicalMed Zoonotic Diseases

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13 pages, 5923 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Biological and Molecular Characterization of Five Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas, 1909) (Kinetoplastida, Trypanosomatidae) Isolates from the State of Hidalgo, Mexico

by Yessenia Montes-Vergara, Alberto Antonio-Campos, José Miguel Padilla-Valdez, Erick Abraham Contreras-López, Julio Cesar Noguez-García, Nancy Rivas and Ricardo Alejandre-Aguilar

Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2025, 10(5), 122; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed10050122 - 1 May 2025

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Abstract

Trypanosoma cruzi, the causal agent of Chagas disease, exhibits great genetic diversity, which has been related to its biological properties. However, these are poorly known in strains from the endemic area of Hidalgo. To assess the parasite’s virulence, we evaluated parasitemia, mortality, [...] Read more.

Trypanosoma cruzi, the causal agent of Chagas disease, exhibits great genetic diversity, which has been related to its biological properties. However, these are poorly known in strains from the endemic area of Hidalgo. To assess the parasite’s virulence, we evaluated parasitemia, mortality, and tropism in thirteen organs of CD1 mice during the acute phase of infection. For genotyping, we amplified the mini-exon gene from T. cruzi DNA using PCR. All five isolates were identified as belonging to DTU TcI. The peak of parasitemia occurred between 25 and 29 days post-infection. The Tultitlán and Olma isolates did not cause any mouse deaths, whereas Ixcatépec produced 100% mortality. Mice infected with the Barrio Hondo isolate exhibited the highest parasitemia, while those infected with Cuatecomaco had the lowest. The five isolates generated varying degrees of infection and chronic inflammation; only two isolates triggered acute pancreatitis and myocarditis. No amastigote nests were found in the hearts of mice infected with the Ixcatépec isolate. Our findings suggest that the damage caused by T. cruzi strains from Hidalgo may extend beyond cardiac lesions in the acute phase of Chagas disease regardless of their classification as TcI and variability in parasitemia levels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vector-Borne Disease Spatial Epidemiology, Disease Ecology, and Zoonoses)

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18 pages, 3924 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Current and Future Spatial Distribution of the Aedes aegypti in Peru Based on Topoclimatic Analysis and Climate Change Scenarios

by Alex J. Vergara, Sivmny V. Valqui-Reina, Dennis Cieza-Tarrillo, Candy Lisbeth Ocaña-Zúñiga, Rocio Hernández, Sandy R. Chapa-Gonza, Erick A. Aquiñivin-Silva, Armstrong B. Fernández-Jeri and Alexandre Rosa dos Santos

Insects 2025, 16(5), 487; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects16050487 - 2 May 2025

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Abstract

Dengue, a febrile disease that has caused epidemics and deaths in South America, especially Peru, is vectored by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Despite the seriousness of dengue fever, and the expanding range of Ae. aegypti, future distributions of the vector and disease [...] Read more.

Dengue, a febrile disease that has caused epidemics and deaths in South America, especially Peru, is vectored by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Despite the seriousness of dengue fever, and the expanding range of Ae. aegypti, future distributions of the vector and disease in the context of climate change have not yet been clearly determined. Expanding on previous findings, our study employed bioclimatic and topographic variables to model both the present and future distribution of the Ae. aegypti mosquito using the Maximum Entropy algorithm (MaxEnt). The results indicate that 10.23% (132,053.96 km²) and 23.65% (305,253.82 km²) of Peru’s surface area possess regions with high and moderate distribution probabilities, respectively, predominantly located in the departments of San Martín, Piura, Loreto, Lambayeque, Cajamarca, Amazonas, and Cusco. Moreover, based on projected future climate scenarios, it is anticipated that areas with a high probability of Ae. aegypti distribution will undergo expansion; specifically, the extent of these areas is estimated to increase by 4.47% and 2.99% by the years 2070 and 2100, respectively, under SSP2-4.5 in the HadGEM-GC31-LL model. Given the increasing dengue epidemic in Peru in recent years, our study seeks to identify tools for effectively addressing this pressing public health concern. Consequently, this research serves as a foundational framework for assessing areas with the highest likelihood of Ae. aegypti distribution in response to projected climate change in the second half of the 21st century. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Vector-Borne Disease Spatial Epidemiology, Disease Ecology, and Zoonoses)

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