ACADEMIC SALON (69)

SPEAKER:  Zhengwei Zhong

Tenure-track Associate Professor, Department of Animal Science, SAB

TIME ：12:40-14:00 Oct 15th, 2025 (Wed)

VENUE：Room 104, Building B, SAB

ORGANIZER：Office of Discipline and Science & Technology, SAB;

Young Teachers Association, SAB

TITLE：

A New Perspective on the Prevention and Control of Tick-Borne Diseases: Focusing on Feeding Mechanisms

ABSTRACT：

Vectors such as arthropods acquire pathogens from infected hosts through biting and blood-feeding behaviors, and subsequently transmit these pathogens to healthy hosts, leading to large-scale outbreaks of vector-borne diseases. Ticks are one of the major disease vectors. Worldwide, there are over 950 tick species, and more than 220 tick-borne pathogens have been identified. The mechanisms by which different tick species transmit pathogens also vary. Therefore, vaccines or drugs targeting a single tick-borne pathogen often lack broad-spectrum efficacy. Understanding the blood-feeding behavior and the mechanisms of reproduction and development in ticks is crucial for the development of broadly effective drugs or vaccines targeting tick reproduction.