Stephen H. Gillespie is Professor of Medical Microbiology in the Department of Infectious Diseases at University College London, UK. Geoffrey L. Smith is a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow and Head of Department of Virology at Imperial College London, UK. Anne Osbourn is a Group leader in the Sainsbury Laboratory, John Innes Centre, Norwich,UK.

'The authors describe the advantages of insects as vectors and their numerous barriers to infection, including physico-chemical barriers, the gut, haemolymph, and the salivary glands themselves.' ASM News

• Preface; 1. Vector-borne diseases B. W. J. Mahy; 2. Evolution of tick-borne disease systems S. E. Randolph; 3. Insect transmission of viruses S. Blanc; 4. Interactive silencing of host gene expression S. W. Ding; 5. Reducing the prevalence of Borrelia in ticks A. G. Barbour; 6. Bunyavirus/mosquito interactions R. M. Elliott; 7. How do mosquito vectors live with their viruses? S. Higgs 8. Induction of vector competence S. Weaver; 9. Environmental influences on arbovirus infections and vectors P. S. Mellor; 10. Vector immunity N. A. Ratcliffe and M. M. A. Whitten; 11. Transmission of plant viruses by nematodes S. MacFarlane and D. J. Robinson; 12. Wolbachia host-symbiont interactions M. J. Taylor; 13. Pathogenic strategies of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, a unique bacterium that colonizes neutrophils J. A. Carlyon and E. Fikrig; 14. Interactions of Yersinia pestis with its flea vector that lead to the transmission of plague B. J. Hinnebusch; 15. Transgenic malaria P. W. Atkinson; 16. Vaccines targeting vectors G. A. T. Targett; Index.