[7] Prognosis is good for most people, but is poor in those who develop severe symptoms, with up to a 20% mortality rate in this population depending on the virus.

[9] For arboviruses, vectors are commonly mosquitoes, ticks, sandflies[10] and other arthropods that consume the blood of vertebrates for nutritious or developmental purposes.

Female mosquitoes of the genus Culex prefer to consume the blood of passerine birds, making them the hosts of the virus.

[25] This puts intravenous drug users and healthcare workers at risk for infection in regions where the arbovirus may be spreading in human populations.

With the exception of the African swine fever virus, which belongs to the Asfarviridae family of viruses, all major clinically important arboviruses belong to one of the following four groups:[citation needed] Vector control measures, especially mosquito control, are essential to reducing the transmission of disease by arboviruses.

Habitat control involves draining swamps and removal of other pools of stagnant water (such as old tires, large outdoor potted plants, empty cans, etc.)

[36] People can also reduce the risk of getting bitten by arthropods by employing personal protective measures such as sleeping under mosquito nets, wearing protective clothing, applying insect repellents such as permethrin and DEET to clothing and exposed skin, and (where possible) avoiding areas known to harbor high arthropod populations.

The warm climate conditions found in tropical areas allows for year-round transmission by the arthropod vectors.

[1] Arboviruses were not known to exist until the rise of modern medicine, with the germ theory and an understanding that viruses were distinct from other microorganisms.

The connection between arthropods and disease was not postulated until 1881 when Cuban doctor and scientist Carlos Finlay proposed that yellow fever may be transmitted by mosquitoes instead of human contact,[51] a reality that was verified by Major Walter Reed in 1901.

[56][57] The discovery of the West Nile virus came in 1937,[58] and has since been found in Culex populations[59] causing epidemics throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

[60] During the latter half of the 20th century, Dengue fever reemerged as a global disease, with the virus spreading geographically due to urbanization, population growth, increased international travel, and global warming,[61] and continues to cause at least 50 million infections per year, making Dengue fever the most common and clinically important arboviral disease.

[64] During the American effort to construct the canal in the early 1900s, William C. Gorgas, the Chief Sanitary Officer of Havana, was tasked with overseeing the health of the workers.

He had past success in eradicating the disease in Florida and Havana by reducing mosquito populations through draining nearby pools of water, cutting grass, applying oil to the edges of ponds and swamps to kill larvae, and capturing adult mosquitoes that remained indoors during the daytime.

[66] The combined implementation of these sanitation measures led to a dramatic decline in the number of workers dying and the eventual eradication of yellow fever in the Canal Zone as well as the containment of malaria during the 10-year construction period.