The World Health Organization (WHO) divides the world into 6 regions, of which the East and South Asia region has 11 members with nearly 2 billion people including Bangladesh, Bhutan, North Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor, and Vietnam is located in the Western Pacific region. This is one of the regions with many mosquito‐borne diseases and is also a global medical center.
The World Health Organization (WHO) divides the world into 6 regions, of which the East and South Asia region has 11 members with nearly 2 billion people including Bangladesh, Bhutan, North Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor, and Vietnam is located in the Western Pacific region. This is one of the regions with many mosquito‐borne diseases and is also a global medical center.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020), vector‐borne diseases account for about 17% of the total global burden of infectious diseases and more than 700,000 deaths each year. With more than 80% of the population living in areas at risk of two or more major vector‐borne diseases. Every year, more than 1 billion people are infected with a vector‐borne disease. East and South Asia are particularly affected. In 2018, the region reported more than 8 million cases of malaria with more than 11,600 deaths. Over the past 50 years, the incidence of dengue fever has increased more than 30‐fold, with more than 52% of the population at risk of dengue fever and the disease is endemic in 10/11 countries in the region. Chikungunya is endemic in all member states except East Timor and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Zika virus has been reported in countries including India, Indonesia, Thailand and the Maldives. The East and South Asia region accounts for 58% of the global burden of lymphatic filariasis. Japanese encephalitis continues to be a major public health problem in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan report approximately 6,000 cases of leishmaniasis each year.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), vector‐borne diseases (VBDs) are widespread in East and South Asia. Most Member States report transmission of multiple vector‐borne diseases, and only one Member State, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, reports transmission of only one vector‐borne disease. Mosquitoes are among the most important vectors of six major diseases, including malaria, filariasis, Japanese encephalitis, dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika virus. Mosquitoes are characterized by their long, slender bodies covered with scales and bearing the mouthparts of the species that bite and suck blood from their hosts. Mosquitoes belong to the phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, subclass Pterygota, order Endopterygota, order Diptera, suborder Nematocera, superfamily Culicoidea, family Culicidae, and have subfamilies Culicinae, Anophelinae and Toxorhynchitinae.
In the WHO South and East Asia Region, malaria is transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes; lymphatic filariasis is transmitted by Culex sp., Mansonia sp., Anopheles sp. and Aedes sp. mosquitoes; Japanese encephalitis is transmitted by Culex sp. mosquitoes; dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus are transmitted by Aedes sp. mosquitoes; and Kala‐Azar is transmitted by Phlebotomus sp. mosquitoes. Of the more than 3,727 mosquito species in the world, more than 300 are reported in the South and East Asia Region. Of these, 76 species are important disease vectors in the region. The following maps show the distribution of disease vectors in the South and East Asia Region by vector list and are used for taxonomic identification.
A WHO review of disease vectors has identified a total of 74 mosquito species and 2 Phlebotomus sp. as responsible for vector‐borne diseases including malaria, dengue, chikungunya, Zika virus disease, Japanese encephalitis, filariasis and Leishmania spp. in the Southeast Asian region. The vectors responsible for these vector‐borne diseases are listed below and their distribution by disease in the region is illustrated through maps. From the list of vectors and their distribution, it is shown that malaria is transmitted by 58 Anopheles sp. species; filariasis is transmitted by 5 Culex sp. species, 3 Aedes sp. species, 4 Mansonia sp. species and 8 Anopheles sp. species; Japanese encephalitis is transmitted by 9 Culex sp. species; Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika viruses are transmitted by two species of mosquitoes Aede ssp.; and Leishmania sp. is transmitted by two species Phlebotomus sp..
