Infestation is the state of being invaded or overrun by

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

s. It can also refer to the actual organisms living on or within a host.

Terminology

In general, the term "infestation" refers to

parasitic disease A parasitic disease, also known as parasitosis, is an infectious disease caused by parasites. Parasites are organisms which derive sustenance from its host while causing it harm. The study of parasites and parasitic diseases is known as parasitolo ...

s caused by

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

s such as

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...

s (i.e.

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear e ...

tick Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by ...

s, and lice) and

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wo ...

s, but excluding (except) conditions caused by protozoa,

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometr ...

, and

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsk ...

es, which are called

infection An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dis ...

External and internal

Infestations can be classified as either external or internal with regards to the parasites' location in relation to the host. External or

ectoparasitic infestation An ectoparasitic infestation is a parasitic disease caused by organisms that live primarily on the surface of the host. Examples: * Scabies * Crab louse (pubic lice) * Pediculosis (head lice) * '' Lernaeocera branchialis'' (cod worm) See also * ...

is a condition in which organisms live primarily on the surface of the host (though

porocephaliasis Porocephaliasis is a condition associated with species in the closely related genera ''Porocephalus'' and ''Armillifer''. (The term "pentastomiasis" encompasses all diseases of Pentastomida, which includes porocephaliasis and linguatulosis.) Poroc ...

can penetrate viscerally) and includes those involving mites,

ticks Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by ...

head lice The head louse (''Pediculus humanus capitis'') is an obligate ectoparasite of humans. Head lice are wingless insects that spend their entire lives on the human scalp and feeding exclusively on human blood. Humans are the only known hosts of thi ...

and bed bugs. An internal (or endoparasitic) infestation is a condition in which organisms live within the host and includes those involving worms (though

swimmer's itch Swimmer's itch, cercarial dermatitis or schistosome dermatitis is a short-term allergic contact dermatitis occurring in the skin of humans that have been infected by water-borne schistosomes, a type of flatworm. It is common in freshwater, brack ...

stays near the surface). Medically, the term "infestation" is often reserved only for external ectoparasitic infestations while the term ''

'' refers to internal endoparasitic conditions.

References

External links

Introduction to Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation as a Fumigant Alternative

New technique predicts risk of plant disease and infestation
{{Arthropod infestations Pests (organism) de:Entwesung