Category Infectious Disease

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Food security remains a major challenge for communities that are dependent on climate-vulnerable subsistence farming and in settings of major humanitarian crisis including natural disaster, war and massive population displacement. According to the World Food Programme, in 2015 one in…

Venomous invertebrate and vertebrate animals are to be found anywhere in the world but are especially common in the tropics and subtropics, where they may be particularly hazardous. The following figures illustrate a few examples, including marine and terrestrial invertebrates…

Some arthropods are of medical importance predominantly because of the direct effect of infestation and these are considered in this chapter. Arthropods that cause illness through envenomation (mainly arachnids) are discussed in the following chapter along with other noxious exposures…

Pneumonia continues to exert a terrible toll on health, especially in childhood, where it is the leading infectious cause of death in under-fives. Airborne infections, whether viral, bacterial or fungal, are principally acquired by inhalation of pathogenic organisms, either directly…

Many of the important pathogens that gain entry through the gastrointestinal tract are cosmopolitan in their distribution. They include viruses, bacteria, protozoa, helminths and endoparasitic arthropods. The first three of these can be directly infectious for humans when they are…

Soil There are estimated to be billions of microorganisms in a handful of soil, so it might be considered surprising that it does not serve as a source for more pathogens. Indeed, given that soil cannot be decontaminated globally, and…

Arthropods can transmit viruses, bacteria and parasites. To date, there is no known arthropod-borne fungal infection. Mosquitoes transmit more disease, and a greater variety of disease, than any other arthropod. However, other biting flies, fleas, ticks, lice and mites are…