In addition to infected ticks as vectors of emerging infectious diseases, mosquitoes and fleas have become important vectors of disease in the US. Although these arthropods are not usually submitted to the laboratory for identification, it is good to know how they fit into the arthropod schematic concerning association with infectious diseases.
Class Insecta:
The order Diptera is composed of winged insects, specifically mosquitoes looking for blood meals:
- Aedes (associated with filariasis, dengue, yellow fever, encephalitis, Zika virus, Chikungunya virus)
- Anopheles (associated with malaria, filariasis, encephalitis)
- Culex (associated with filariasis and encephalitis, West Nile virus)
Midges (non-mosquito Diptera):
- Culicoides (biting midges associated with filariasis). Culicoides is a genus of biting midges in the family Ceratopogonidae
And the order Siphonaptera is composed mainly of fleas. Infected fleas can cause:
- Plague (Yersinia pestis)
- Murine typhus (Rickettsia typhi)
