Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Disease vector
open-in-new
<p>In <a href="/facts/Epidemiology/wgTmxoMA">epidemiology</a>, a disease vector is any living agent that carries and transmits an infectious <a href="/facts/Pathogen/axMXtV1M">pathogen</a> such as a <a href="/facts/Parasite/HWPcgky7">parasite</a> or microbe, to another living organism. Agents regarded as vectors are mostly blood-sucking (<a href="/facts/Hematophagy/plcTvPFg">hematophagous</a>) arthropods such as mosquitoes. The first major discovery of a disease vector came from <a href="/facts/Ronald_Ross/qJqD5MNS">Ronald Ross</a> in 1897, who discovered the <a href="/facts/Malaria/rN3g58CX">malaria</a> pathogen when he dissected the stomach tissue of a <a href="/facts/Mosquito/u8hTMTfc">mosquito</a>. </p>