Infectious Diseases and Arthropods

Jerome Goddard, Ph.D. is a medical entomologist currently located at Mississippi State University who is known for research on a number of medically important arthropods, most notably ticks, mosquitoes, and bed bugs. Prior to coming to Mississippi State, Dr. Goddard was an Air Force medical entomologist for 3 years and then State Medical Entomologist for the Mississippi Department of Health for 20 years. After Hurricane Katrina (2005), Dr. Goddard was the health department official responsible for the mosquito and vector control program along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He is the author of over 200 scientific articles and a medical textbook used by physicians, which won "Highly Commended" in 2003 in the British Medical Association's Best Medical Book of the Year competition. Over the last two decades, Dr. Goddard has served as an educational resource concerning medically-important arthropods to a U.S. Congressional Committee, in various newspapers and magazines such as Reader's Digest, and on television programs such as The Learning Channel ("Living with Bugs") and the Colbert Report.

SECTION I. Arthropods and Human Health.- Arthropods and Health.- Dynamics of Arthropod-Borne Diseases.- Section II. Major Arthropod-Borne Diseases.- Mosquito-Borne Diseases.- Tick-Borne Diseases.- Flea-Borne Diseases.- Sand Fly-Transmitted Diseases.- Miscellaneous Vector-Borne Diseases.- Section III. Other Arthropod-Caused or Related Problems.- Health Effects of Bed Bugs.- Why Mosquitoes and Other Arthropods Cannot Transmit HIV.- Medical Conditions Caused by Arthropod Stings or Bites.- Fire Ant Attacks on Humans.- Necrotic Arachnidism-Brown Recluse Bites.- Myiasis.- Imaginary Insect or Mite Infestations.- Appendix 1. Signs and Symptoms of Arthropod-Borne Diseases.- Appendix 2. Diagnostic Tests Used in Arthropod-Borne Diseases.- Appendix 3. Personal Protection from Arthropods.