WG 1.4 – Animal Parasites, Pathogens & Vectors

Tackling global health threats

Chair: Daniel Masiga
Research Scientist,
Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology,
Nairobi, Kenya

Vice-chair: Vacant

All eukaryote kingdoms include organisms that impact the well-being of our species. Much human disease and death are caused by protists, fungi and even other animals.

Protists are the most virulent as they are responsible for diseases such as malaria and schistosomiasis. However, parasitic worms and fungi are also a significant health issue in much of the developing world and a growing concern in the western world. The fungus, Candida albicans, for example, is one of the most serious causes of morbidity in immuno-compromised patients. Barcoding promises to solve the current difficulty in the identification of its infectious hyphal stages.

It is also very difficult to identify the biting insects that act as vectors of several serious protistan and viral diseases. Barcodes offer a newly sophisticated ability to identify mosquitoes (3,000), sandflies (1,000), blackflies (2,000), fleas (2,000) and ticks (1,000).

iBOL will gather barcodes for 10,000 species providing a comprehensive library for the array of eukaryotes that damage or destroy the lives of so many humans.

Goal
10,000 species including:
- 3,000 mosquito species
- 1,000 sandfly species
- 2,000 blackfly species
- 2,000 flea species
- 1,000 tick species