title: Vector-borne diseases in Haiti: a review.
abstract: Haiti lies on the western third of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, and is one of the poorest nations in the Western hemisphere. Haiti attracts a lot of medical attention and support due to severe natural disasters followed by disastrous health consequences. Vector-borne infections are still prevalent there with some unique aspects comparing it to Latin American countries and other Caribbean islands. Although vector-borne viral diseases such as dengue and recently chikungunya can be found in many of the Caribbean islands, including Haiti, there is an apparent distinction of the vector-borne parasitic diseases. Contrary to neighboring Carribbean islands, Haiti is highly endemic for malaria, lymphatic filariasis and mansonellosis. Affected by repeat natural disasters, poverty and lack of adequate infrastructure, control of transmission within Haiti and prevention of dissemination of vector-borne pathogens to other regions is challenging. In this review we summarize some aspects concerning diseases caused by vector-borne pathogens in Haiti.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Disease Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Affiliated with the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, 12 Bayit Street, 91031 Jerusalem, Israel. Electronic address: elibc1@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Eli
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ben-Chetrit
authors.affiliation: The Center for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer & Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Electronic address: elischwa@post.tau.ac.il.
authors.forename: Eli
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schwartz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005368:Filariasis; D006205:Haiti; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors; D008288:Malaria; D014777:Virus Diseases
keywords: Chikungunya; Dengue; Filaria; Haiti; Malaria