Short description
Arthropods are a phylum within the animal kingdom, which includes insects and arachnids.
Detailed description
Some arthropods can harm human beings as they are
parasites and transmit diseases. The blood-feeding tick, for instance, transmits borreliosis or
tick-borne encephalitis.
The tsetse fly transmits sleeping sickness; the
anopheles mosquito spreads
malaria and the rat flea the plague.
The itch mite is responsible for propagation of mange. Further pathogens that are transmitted by arthropods are chikungunya virus,
dengue virus,
Zika virus, Rift Valley fever virus and
Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever virus as well as Schmallenberg virus and blue tongue virus. The DZIF specifically established a department for the surveillance of arthropods and arthropod-borne pathogens .
