@article{96542, keywords = {Infectious Diseases, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health}, author = {Mubemba B and Mburu MM and Changula K and Muleya W and Moonga LC and Chambaro HM and Kajihara M and Qiu Y and Orba Y and Hayashida K and Sutcliffe CG and Norris DE and Thuma PE and Ndubani P and Chitanga S and Sawa H and Takada A and Simulundu E}, editor = {Tangkawattana S}, title = {Current knowledge of vector-borne zoonotic pathogens in Zambia: A clarion call to scaling-up “One Health” research in the wake of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases}, abstract = {

Background Although vector-borne zoonotic diseases are a major public health threat globally, they are usually neglected, especially among resource-constrained countries, including those in sub-Saharan Africa. This scoping review examined the current knowledge and identified research gaps of vector-borne zoonotic pathogens in Zambia.

Methods and findings Major scientific databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, CABI, Scientific Information Database (SID)) were searched for articles describing vector-borne (mosquitoes, ticks, fleas and tsetse flies) zoonotic pathogens in Zambia. Several mosquito-borne arboviruses have been reported including Yellow fever, Ntaya, Mayaro, Dengue, Zika, West Nile, Chikungunya, Sindbis, and Rift Valley fever viruses. Flea-borne zoonotic pathogens reported include Yersinia pestis and Rickettsia felis. Trypanosoma sp. was the only tsetse fly-borne pathogen identified. Further, tick-borne zoonotic pathogens reported included Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic fever virus, Rickettsia sp., Anaplasma sp., Ehrlichia sp., Borrelia sp., and Coxiella burnetii. Conclusions This study revealed the presence of many vector-borne zoonotic pathogens circulating in vectors and animals in Zambia. Though reports of human clinical cases were limited, several serological studies provided considerable evidence of zoonotic transmission of vector-borne pathogens in humans. However, the disease burden in humans attributable to vector-borne zoonotic infections could not be ascertained from the available reports and this precludes the formulation of national policies that could help in the control and mitigation of the impact of these diseases in Zambia. Therefore, there is an urgent need to scale-up “One Health” research in emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases to enable the country to prepare for future epidemics, including pandemics.

}, year = {2022}, journal = {PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases}, volume = {16}, pages = {e0010193}, publisher = {Public Library of Science (PLoS)}, issn = {1935-2735}, url = {https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0010193&type=printable}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pntd.0010193}, language = {eng}, }