Vector Threat
Celeste Solum
August 11, 2025
The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas, is a high-security research laboratory designed to study highly contagious zoonotic diseases that affect both animals and humans, including those transmitted by vectors such as mosquitoes and ticks. The facility, which operates at Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4), is the first in the United States capable of housing large livestock for research on pathogens like Rift Valley fever, which is vector-borne, as well as foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever, and classical swine fever.
NBAF is intended to replace the aging Plum Island Animal Disease Center and enhance the nation’s biodefense capabilities by developing vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tools for foreign animal diseases. The research conducted at NBAF includes studying diseases that can be spread through insect vectors, which are critical to understanding outbreaks and preventing large-scale agricultural and public health crises.
You may be interested to learn that the term “vectors” in the context of biological research can refer to either gene delivery vehicles used in gene therapy or disease-transmitting organisms like mosquitoes and ticks. National biological laboratories play a crucial role in researching both types of vectors.
For gene therapy, national laboratories focus on the development, production, and distribution of gene therapy vectors. The National Gene Vector Laboratories initiative, established in the 1990s, aimed to provide shared resources for the production of clinical-grade vectors to advance research into treating genetic and acquired diseases. Modern facilities, such as the Gene Vector Core at Baylor College of Medicine, continue this work by producing a variety of viral vectors, including adenovirus, lentivirus, retrovirus, and adeno-associated virus (AAV), for research purposes.
In the context of infectious diseases, national laboratories study arthropod vectors like mosquitoes, ticks, and flies that transmit pathogens. The Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) conducts fundamental research on the biology of these vectors and the pathogens they carry, aiming to develop new tools to prevent disease transmission. Similarly, the Center for Vector Biology at Rutgers University investigates the biology, ecology, and management of disease-carrying insects, particularly mosquitoes, to enhance public health in New Jersey. The UK’s Pirbright Institute focuses on the ecology of biting midges (Culicoides), including their breeding sites and host preferences, to predict and prevent disease outbreaks.
Some national laboratories are also involved in the study of highly dangerous pathogens. The State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR in Russia is a high-containment facility capable of handling pathogens at CDC levels 1–4 and serves as one of two official repositories for the smallpox virus. This facility, part of the historical Biopreparat system, conducts research on dangerous viruses, including those causing bird flu and hepatitis.
Bioinformatics resources like VectorBase, funded by NIAID and the NIH, support the global research community by providing genomic data, annotations, and tools for studying invertebrate vectors and their associated pathogens. These national efforts, spanning from laboratory research to data sharing, are essential for understanding and combating vector-borne diseases and advancing gene therapy.
Rodents as Vectors
Rodents are significant vectors and reservoirs for a wide range of human diseases, acting as carriers for pathogens including bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. They can transmit diseases through direct contact, contamination of food and water, or by harboring other disease-carrying vectors like fleas and ticks. The black rat, for instance, is a primary vector for the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which causes bubonic plague, and also carries pathogens responsible for typhus, Weil’s disease, toxoplasmosis, and trichinosis. Rodents are also known to transmit hantaviruses, such as Puumala, Dobrava-Belgrade, and Saaremaa viruses, which can infect humans. Other diseases linked to rodents include salmonellosis, tularaemia, brucellosis, relapsing fevers, leptospirosis, rat-bite fever, scrub typhus, Q fever, rickettsial pox, certain hemorrhagic fevers, and diseases like babesiosis, cutaneous leishmaniasis, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, Lyme disease, Omsk hemorrhagic fever, Powassan virus, rickettsialpox, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
In addition to these, rodents can carry parasites like Taenia taeniaeformis and Capillaria hepatica, which can be transmitted to humans through improper hygiene practices. The risk of disease transmission is heightened in areas with poor sanitation, where rodent populations can become very large, potentially affecting a significant portion of the human population. Furthermore, rodents are recognized as reservoirs and vectors of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), harboring resistant bacteria such as E. coli and S. aureus, which can be transferred to humans through contact with fecal material or contaminated food and water. Their role as sentinels for AMR is also acknowledged, as their presence can indicate the spread of resistance genes in the environment.
Be prepared for an increase in vectors in the days to come. Government, military, and research facilitie have been gaming out dangerous vectors for decades.
Be safe and take precautions,
Celeste