title: Role of the Vector in Arbovirus Transmission.
abstract: Many arboviral diseases are uncontrolled, and the viruses that cause them are globally emerging or reemerging pathogens that produce significant disease throughout the world. The increased spread and prevalence of disease are occurring during a period of substantial scientific growth in the vector-borne disease research community. This growth has been supported by advances in genomics and proteomics, and by the ability to genetically alter disease vectors. For the first time, researchers are elucidating the molecular details of vector host-seeking behavior, the susceptibility of disease vectors to arboviruses, the immunological control of infection in disease vectors, and the determinants that facilitate transmission of arboviruses from a vector to a host. These discoveries are facilitating the development of novel strategies to combat arboviral disease, including the release of transgenic mosquitoes harboring dominant lethal genes, the introduction of arbovirus-blocking microbes into mosquito populations, and the development of acquisition- and transmission-blocking therapeutics. Understanding the role of the vector in arbovirus transmission has provided critical practical and theoretical tools to control arboviral disease.
authors.affiliation: Foundational Sciences, Central Michigan University College of Medicine, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan 48859.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Conway
authors.affiliation: Department of Tropical Medicine, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112.
authors.forename: Tonya M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Colpitts
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases Section, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520; email: erol.fikrig@yale.edu.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815.
authors.forename: Erol
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fikrig
keywords: host; immune response; mosquito; saliva protein