ABSTRACT
Insect vector-borne diseases such as malaria, sleeping sickness, and Chagas’ disease are typically associated with tropical and subtropical climates due to the limitations in the temperature survival range of the vector as well as the protozoan itself (Beck-Johnson et al., 2013). Typical in this respect is the parasite-vector relationship between Plasmodium, the agent of malaria, and Anopheles, the mosquito, which transmits it (Beck-Johnson et al., 2013). Studies by Beck-Johnson et al. (2013) suggest that the baseline for persistence of the Anopheles mosquito is 20°C-26°C, that is, the minimum temperature at which juvenile insects can grow into adults to generate a signicant population. The authors’ research also predicted that in order for mosquitoes to be long lived, temperatures needed to be in the 20°C-30°C range (Beck-Johnson et al., 2013). These observations correspond with decreased longevity of Anopheles at temperatures above 32°C and in the East Africa highlands where temperatures are cool. Similar temperature range data (20°C-26°C) have been seen for the vector of Trypanosoma brucei, the tsetse y (Moore et al., 2011). In contrast, the
23.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 457 23.2 Hurdles in protozoan eradication: vector removal and vaccine development
strategies.............................................................................................................................. 459 23.2.1 Hurdles in protozoan treatment: current strategies and drug repurposing ..... 461
23.3 New sources of antiprotozoal drugs ...............................................................................465 23.3.1 Terrestrial and endophytic microbes ..................................................................465 23.3.2 Aquatic microbes ................................................................................................... 467
23.4 Conclusions and further directions ................................................................................ 470 References ..................................................................................................................................... 471
reduviid (triatomine) bug, the agent of Chagas’ disease, requires slightly higher temperatures but similarly possesses a very narrow optimal range of 26°C-29°C (Lazzari, 1991).
