Question

Name the vectors of the following diseases.
(i) Kala azar (ii) Sleeping sickness (iii) Typhus (iv) Bubonic plague (v) Malaria (vi) Dengue

Answer 1

Hint: The vectors are the agent that transmits the disease from the infected organisms to the healthy organisms. Not all the diseases are transmitted by all vectors, only some of the pathogens may adapt to the body of the vectors. Hence these pathogens involve the different host organisms during its life cycle.

Complete Answer:
(i) Kala azar: It is the disease which is transmitted by the sand fly. It is also called the visceral leishmaniasis. The parasite of this disease moves to the internal organs like liver, spleen and the bone marrow in the human. If this disease remains untreated it may lead to death.

(ii) Sleeping sickness: It is also called the African Trypanosomiasis. The Trypanosome brucei is the causative agent for this disease. It is transmitted by the vector tsetse fly which is mainly found in sub-Saharan Africa.

 (iii) Typhus: It is caused by the bacterial infection. It involves several types of the diseases like epidemic typhus, scrub typhus and the murine typhus. The Louse is the vector for this typhus fever.

 (iv) Bubonic plague: It is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. The symptoms of this type of plague are fever, headache, vomiting, lymph nodes become swollen and painful. This is mainly transmitted by the rat flea.

 (v) Malaria: It is the protozoan disease caused by the plasmodium. The female anopheles mosquito helps in transferring this parasite from the infected to the normal person. Hence they spread from the saliva of this mosquito.

 (vi) Dengue: Dengue is the viral disease caused by the dengue virus. It is the fever with the symptoms of headache, vomiting, pains in the muscles and joints etc. They are transmitted by the aedes.

Note: The vectors that transmit the disease do not cause the disease on their own, rather they spread the harmful pathogens. These pathogens do not cause any harm or disease to the vectors that carry them. The pathogens get the nourishment from the body of the vector.