Taking environmental microbiology and one of the terms on the review for the final is Vector vs Soilborne diseases and was wondering if anyone could clarify/give me better definitions then what i have

Vectorborne- ones that describe illnesses by infectious microbes being transmitted by blood sucking arthropods like mosquitos
Most of the time these mosquitos get the disease from feeding off an infected vertebrate and passes it onto another one.

Soilborne- This is the main one im not sure of. Is it just like organisms that grow in dirt pass it onto something else? No idea lol.


Any help is appreciated. Expect a few of these lol



This post was edited by impulse155 on Dec 15 2011 09:03pm

A vector, in regards to micro, can be anything that transmits the microbe, even things like hedge trimmers for plant viruses.

Soilborne would be pathogenic fungi or any micro organism from the soil I imagine.

Would vectorborne also be ones that are also animal related?
I know malaria (the plasmodium uses mosquitoes as a vector, so this is vectorborne)
But in a definition it said arthropods are the only vectors. Is this statement just wrong? Why cant animals technically be (such as for rabies the animal that bites the human wold be a an example of the vector).

And then soilborne im pretty sure he was talking about fungal borne (the 3 mycoses) and also stuff like tetnus

Animals can be vectors - just like mosquitoes or rabid dogs etc as you mentioned.

Here's a definition I found which is always the way I understood the word:

"An agent, usually an insect or other animal, able to carry pathogens from one host to another."

Did you try asking your teacher?