RT Book, Section A1 Brophy, Jason A1 Kulkarni, Manisha A2 Kline, Mark W. SR Print(0) ID 1182937431 T1 Arboviruses T2 Rudolph's Pediatrics, 23e YR 2018 FD 2018 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9781259588594 LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1182937431 RD 2024/03/28 AB Arboviruses (or arthropod-borne viruses) are a heterogeneous group of viruses that share the same usual route of entry into humans: via the bite of an infected mosquito, tick, sandfly, or other arthropod. The life cycle of most arboviruses is characterized by the ability of the virus to replicate in both an arthropod vector and a vertebrate “natural” host (usually birds or small mammals) and by transmission between these 2 organisms at the time of the arthropod’s bite (Fig. 300-1). This cycle leads to establishment or maintenance of the virus in a given ecosystem. Humans or domestic animals are only “incidental” hosts for many species of arboviruses, as infection in such hosts (although capable of causing disease) is often a dead end for the virus due to viremia being too low or too transient to contribute to maintenance of the cycle of transmission. Some viruses are specific to a single genus or species of insect, while others are transmissible by multiple vectors. In addition, some arthropods are capable of transovarial transmission, wherein their eggs (which sometimes overwinter and hatch in spring) are infected with the virus, allowing viral maintenance in areas of colder climate.