Viral infections of wounds may be more prevalent than the few reported cases in the
literature indicate. Rabies usually begins with the bite of an infected host, although
transmission has been documented via mucous membrane contamination, aerosols,
and corneal and organ transplants. The primary mode of transmission for feline
immunodeficiency virus is through bite wounds from an infected cat. Casual, nonaggressive contact, such as sharing water bowls or mutual grooming, does not
appear to be an efficient route of spreading the virus. In the case of sheep pox and
goat pox, contagious pustular dermatitis and feline leukemia, viruses enter the body
through various portals, including the mucous membranes, the skin, the respiratory
and the gastrointestinal tracts. The natural wounds can serve as an additional site
through which viruses enter the susceptible host and cause disease or infection.
In nature, arthropod-borne viruses are transmitted between vertebrate hosts by
hematophagous arthropod vectors, including mosquitoes midges and ticks. Before
its transmission to a susceptible host, an arbovirus must first replicate to sufficient
levels inside the arthropod vector. The virus then disseminates to the salivary glands
of the vector, and the infectious saliva is injected into a host during the bloodfeeding process. Mosquitoes, ticks, and midges are well-established vectors for
transmission of many viruses that cause disease in domestic, wild animals and
humans. The list of animal diseases naturally transmitted by arthropods include:
rabbit hemorrhagic disease, Shopes fibroma, encephalomyelitis ovis, West Nile
fever, bluetongue, Rift Valley fever, Schmallenberg disease, lumpy skin disease,
African horse sickness, equine infectious anemia, equine encephalomyelitis-eastern
and western, Japanese encephalitis and Venezuelan equine encephalitis. Climate
is one of the factors that influence the distribution of diseases borne by vectors.