Arbovirus Infections: the Challenges of Controlling an Ever-Present Enemy

Abstract

Arthropod-borne infections carried by mosquitoes and ticks are difficult to eradicate, once rooted, and have frequently caused wide-area epidemics such as dengue fever, West Nile fever, chikungunya fever, yel-low fever, Japanese encephalitis and Rift Valley fever. Factors such as global warming and overpopulation have aggravated urban epidemics caused by dengue and chikungunya viruses. Measures against arthro-pods have their limitations, however, so nonepidemic areas must be protected against invasion by vectorborne diseases through quarantine, education and ef-fective vaccination.