Topic summary
Vector species
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Disease vector.
Agents regarded as vectors are mostly blood-sucking (hematophagous) arthropods such as mosquitoes. The first major discovery of a disease vector came from Ronald Ross in 1897, who discovered the malaria pathogen when he dissected the stomach tissue of a mosquito. The process of proving that a vector is responsible for transmitting pathogens is called vector incrimination. Transmission depends on interactions among a host, a pathogen, and a vector species that is capable of carrying the infection. Some pathogens may multiply or undergo part of their life cycle inside of the vector, while others are transferred from one surface to another without developing inside the carrier.