Current knowledge of vector-borne zoonotic pathogens in Zambia: A clarion call to scaling-up “One Health” research in the wake of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases

Abstract

Background Although vector-borne zoonotic diseases are a major public health threat globally, they are usually neglected, especially among resource-constrained countries, including those in sub-Saharan Africa. This scoping review examined the current knowledge and identified research gaps of vector-borne zoonotic pathogens in Zambia. Methods and findings Major scientific databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, CABI, Scientific Information Database (SID)) were searched for articles describing vector-borne (mosquitoes, ticks, fleas and tsetse flies) zoonotic pathogens in Zambia. Several mosquito-borne arboviruses have been reported including Yellow fever, Ntaya, Mayaro, Dengue, Zika, West Nile, Chikungunya, Sindbis, and Rift Valley fever viruses. Flea-borne zoonotic pathogens reported include Yersinia pestis and Rickettsia felis. Trypanosoma sp. was the only tsetse fly-borne pathogen identified. Further, tick-borne zoonotic pathogens reported included Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic fever virus, Rickettsia sp., Anaplasma sp., Ehrlichia sp., Borrelia sp., and Coxiella burnetii. Conclusions This study revealed the presence of many vector-borne zoonotic pathogens circulating in vectors and animals in Zambia. Though reports of human clinical cases were limited, several serological studies provided considerable evidence of zoonotic transmission of vector-borne pathogens in humans. However, the disease burden in humans attributable to vector-borne zoonotic infections could not be ascertained from the available reports and this precludes the formulation of national policies that could help in the control and mitigation of the impact of these diseases in Zambia. Therefore, there is an urgent need to scale-up “One Health” research in emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases to enable the country to prepare for future epidemics, including pandemics.

Community perceptions, acceptability, and the durability of house screening interventions against exposure to malaria vectors in Nyimba district, Zambia

“…One participant intricately highlighted the added health benefits of house screening with reduced exposure to plague, a flea-borne rodent-associated disease. Nyimba recorded fatal cases of plague in 2015 [ 48 , 49 ]. This underpins the added benefit of improved housing as a developmental intervention in further reducing the burden of other arthropod-borne diseases such as diarrhoea, plague, lyphatic filariaisis and Aedes -transmitted diseases [ 22 , 50 , 51 ].…”

Tick-borne zoonotic flaviviruses and Borrelia infections in wildlife hosts: What have field studies contributed?

“…and TBFV have focused on getting information on the biology of infection in vertebrate hosts [ 13 , 14 ], reporting prevalence and clinical cases in human [ 15 , 16 ] and discussing diagnostic methodologies [ 17 , 18 ], the role of non-vector transmissions for TBFV [ 19 , 20 ], or on the importance of modelling TBP regarding climate change [ 21 , 22 ]. Some reviews have focused on wildlife hosts but only at a national or continental scale [ 23 , 24 ], or on reservoirs associated with flaviviruses in general, with little focus on TBFV [ 25 ]. Finally, a lot of research effort has focused on studying the infectious agents in the ticks [ 26 , 27 ].…”

Novel paradigm of mosquito-borne disease control based on self-powered strategy

“…According to the statistics of the World Health Organization, more than 700,000 deaths caused by mosquito-borne diseases annually (8). In fact, not only humans, but most other land mammals are also victims of mosquito bites (9). Therefore, accelerating technical research on the prevention of these mosquito-borne diseases can prevent unnecessary deaths.…”