Apr 16, 2024
This week we will discuss
Ectoparasites. The CDC says: "Although the term ectoparasites
can broadly include blood-sucking arthropods such as mosquitoes
(because they are dependent on a blood meal from a human host for
their survival), this term is generally used more narrowly to refer
to organisms such as ticks, fleas, lice, and mites that attach or
burrow into the skin and remain there for relatively long periods
of time (e.g., weeks to months). Arthropods are important in
causing diseases in their own right, but are even more important as
vectors, or transmitters, of many different pathogens that in turn
cause tremendous morbidity and mortality from the diseases they
cause.