Entomoses of Animals

(in Russian, entomozy), the name for any of a group of diseases caused by insects (or their larvae) that parasitize the host externally or internally. Entomoses are ubiquitous and may affect all species of animals. The causative agents are insects of the orders Diptera, Anoplura, Mallophaga, Hemiptera, and Aphaniptera.

Entomoses, in addition to the direct harm they inflict, also have a toxic influence on the host. The bites of such bloodsucking insects as the Tabadinae, Phlebobotinae, Anopheles, and certain species of true flies traumatize the skin, blood vessels, and nerve endings. Some insects may carry infectious agents or parasites of the circulatory system. The larvae of botflies, warble flies, and true flies destroy cells of the tissue and walls of blood vessels with their mouth hooks and segment spines. The larvae cause obstructions by burrowing into the lumina of respiratory and digestive passages. Sometimes the animals die. Entomoses cause economic loss by decreasing milk, meat, fur, and egg production and by lowering the quality of leather hides.

Treatment consists in the application of insecticides and systemic oral larvicides. Preventive measures include the destruction of zootrophic insects in places where they hatch, in farm buildings, and on the bodies of animals. Insect repellents are also used.