Special Collection: Protocols in Medical and Veterinary Entomology

Abstract

Arthropods of medical and veterinary importance live alongside people, our livestock and pets, and wildlife, creating a pathway for zoonotic pathogens to jump between reservoir hosts and accidental hosts. These pests and parasites at a minimum are the sources of general annoyance to people and animals. Some serve as vectors which inflict further damage by transmitting pathogens that cause disease and negative changes in body condition or physiology to hosts. In addition to biological impacts, pests of livestock can cause billions of dollars in economic damage Furthermore, vector-borne diseases are on the rise, with the CDC reporting in 2018 a tripling of disease cases transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas in the past 13 yr