Invasive plants facilitated by socioeconomic change harbor vectors of scrub typhus and spotted fever.
Chen-Yu WeiJen-Kai WangHan-Chun ShihHsi-Chieh WangChi-Chien KuoPublished in: PLoS neglected tropical diseases (2020)
This study highlights an important but largely neglected issue that socioeconomic change can have unexpected consequences for human health induced particularly by invasive plants, which could become a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases but usually are very hard to be eradicated. In the future, a more comprehensive approach that integrates socio-economics, land use, exotic species, and human health should be considered to fully understand potential emergence of vector-borne diseases.