Research overview: vector ecology and the transmission of felid diseases

Ticks, fleas, mosquitoes and tsetse flies transmit many of the pathogens that affect wild cats, making vector ecology central to felid disease. This overview surveys the vectors responsible for spreading blood parasites, hemoplasmas, plague, trypanosomes and other agents among felids, and how vector abundance, distribution and behavior shape disease patterns. It examines the interplay of climate, host density and habitat in driving vector populations, and the consequences for the timing and intensity of disease. The synthesis connects entomology and parasitology to felid health. It aims to help readers understand that many felid diseases cannot be understood without their vectors, and that the ecology of these small arthropods is a key, often hidden, determinant of which pathogens reach wild cats and when outbreaks occur.