Medically important Parasites + Images (mosquitoes)

Medical entomology deals with the study of arthropods which cause or transmit disease to man.


We will focus on Family Culicidae here:

Culicidae include:

• Culex
• Aedes
• Anopheles

Members of this subfamily are characterized by:

1. Long proboscis
2. Presence of scales on body
3. Female feeds on blood while the male feeds on plant juices.
   

Anopheles
Transmits the following diseases:

• Human malaria (Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Each year, there are approximately 515 million cases of malaria, killing between one and three million people.)
• Wuchereria bancrofti (Wuchereria bancrofti is a parasitic filarial nematode worm spread by a mosquito vector. It is one of the three parasites that cause lymphatic filariasis. It affects over 120 million people, primarily in Africa, South America, and other tropical and sub-tropical countries. Elephantiasis can result if the infection is left untreated. Limited treatment modalities exist and no vaccines have been developed.)

Culex
Transmits the following diseases:

• Wuchereria bancrofti
• Viral encephalitis (Encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain.)
• Rift valley fever (Rift Valley Fever is a viral zoonosis (affects primarily domestic livestock, but can be passed to humans) causing fever. The disease is caused by the RVF virus, a member of the genus Phlebovirus (family Bunyaviridae).)

Aedes
Transmits the following diseases:

• Yellow fever (Yellow fever (also called yellow jack, black vomit or sometimes American Plague) is an acute viral disease. It is an important cause of hemorrhagic illness in many African and South American countries despite existence of an effective vaccine. The yellow refers to the jaundice symptoms that affect some patients.)
• Dengue fever (Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever are acute febrile diseases, found in the tropics and Africa, and caused by four closely related virus serotypes of the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae.)
• Wucherecia bancrofti

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-Image credits: CDC.gov --- All images are in the public domain.
-For more free medical images, please visit: Medical Images Public Domain (a group on Flickr)

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