CLASSIFICATION OF INFECTION PATHS

According to the effort expended by the parasite to enter a host, the

methods used by the disease-causing agents are termed either active or
passive.

Active methods involve adult

parasites or active parasite larvae
invade the host by themselves

The fluke larvae can cause

cercarial dermatitis

Scabies mites burrow tunnels

in human skin

Passive methods involve

the parasites entering the
host without apparent effort.

There are five major pathways for a parasite to

invade. These are the exogenous, endogenous,
transplacentaic, transovarial and transmissive
paths.

1. The exogenous (through the

outside) path involves parasites
entering the host through the
skin.
The contact path
The percutaneous (through the skin)
path

Lice

EXIT

2. The endogenous (through the

inside)
pathway
involves
parasites invading through the
natural openings of the body.
The alimentary (peroral or 'through
the mouth') path
The contact path through sexual
contact with an infected partner
Through the nose, eyes and ears.

Wohlfahrtia magnifica fly larvae

cause myiasis

Alimentary
(peroral or 'through
the mouth') path

3. The transplacentaic (through the placenta) path

involves the parasites invading through the placenta of
an infected mother into the foetus.

4. The transovarial (through the ova) path

involves a parasite infecting the host's ovaries, and
thus infecting the host's progeny

5. The transmissive (through a vector) path involves the

parasite infecting through a vector, typically blood-sucking
insects and arachnids.

Triatoma infestans

Ixodes ricinus

Anopheles sp.

For transmissive diseases, the methods parasites use to

enter the host are classified into inoculation, contamination,
and combined transmission.
Inoculation involves the parasite entering the host when the
vector is sucking blood. Entry may occur through the vector's
saliva and mouth parts.
Inoculation is further subdivided into specific and
mechanical inoculation.
Specific inoculation refers to the cases when a diseasecausing agent is transmitted only through specific spieces of
vectors.
Mechanical inoculation may occur through various vectors
(i.e. there is no specific vector).

Contamination occurs when the vector infects the host through its
excreta, stomach contents or, in the case of the vector ending up
squashed on the host, its haemolymph infested with disease-carrying
agents, which then may enter the host.
Contamination may be either specific or mechanical.
Combined transmission involves the possibility of infection both via
inoculation and contamination.

Sylvatic (in the Wild) and Synanthropic (Domestic)

Reservoirs of Infectious Diseases

It is a feature of many infectious diseases that their

causing agents may survive in the wild, and infect new
hosts, whether through vectors or directly,
independently of humans.
The locations where infectious diseases persist
independently of humans are known as sylvatic
reservoirs, and the diseases as sylvatic reservoir
diseases.

The Structure of a Sylvatic Reservoir

1. Disease-causing agents. May be viruses, bacteria, fungi,
protozoa, helminths, arachnids or insects.
2. Source. It is a diseased animal in which the parasite develops,
reproduces, and is passed to other hosts.

3. Reservoir Hosts. Hosts that serve as temporary refuge for

parasites.
4. Vectors. Typically bloodsucking arthropods (mosquitoes, ticks
fleas, lice, etc.). Mechanical vectors may include flies and
cockroaches.
5. Recipients. These are the wild animals which serve as
intermediate or definitive hosts for the parasites, and suffer from the
diseases caused by them.

6. Territory. The physical location in which the above components

coexist.

Due to the varied and not always well-thought-out

human activity, disease reservoirs may form in the
immediate vicinity to where human beings live. Such
reservoirs are known as synanthropic (close to
humans) or domestic reservoirs, and the diseases as
synantropic (domestic) diseases.
The structure of such reservoirs is very much like that
of a sylvatic reservoir.

1. Disease-causing agents. May be

viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, helminths,
arachnids or insects.
2. Source. Diseased domestic animals and
humans.
3. Reservoir Hosts. All manner or animals,
both domestic and living near the home.
4. Vectors. Typically blood-sucking
arthropods (mosquitoes, sundflies, ticks,
fleas, lice, bugs, etc.).
Mechanical vectors may include flies and
cockroaches, and also pets or farm animals
(cats, dogs, birds, pigs, cattle, rats, mice,
etc.).
5. Recipients. Humans and domestic
animals that get infected with the diseases.
6. Territory. A house, a flat, a yard, a park, a
kindergarten, a school or a workplace, etc.

The Structure of a
Synanthropic
Reservoir