Investigating the Relationship Between Insecticide Resistance and Vector-Borne Disease Transmission in Agricultural Regions

Abstract

Vector-borne diseases remain a major public-health challenge in agricultural regions, where irrigation, intensive crop production, pesticide application, and occupational exposure create favourable conditions for vector breeding and pathogen transmission. Repeated use of overlapping insecticide classes in agriculture and public-health programmes accelerates resistance, allowing vectors to survive chemical interventions and potentially sustain disease transmission. This study investigates the relationship between insecticide resistance and vector-borne disease incidence across contrasting agricultural systems. An integrated analytical framework was developed by combining agricultural insecticide-use records, vector sampling, susceptibility bioassays, molecular and biochemical resistance assessment, epidemiological surveillance, environmental monitoring, socio-economic surveys, and GIS-based spatial analysis. Correlation, regression, seasonal trend analysis, and a composite risk index were employed to classify agricultural regions into low, moderate, high, and critical-risk categories. The framework-based illustrative evaluation showed that irrigated rice regions recorded the highest resistance index of 78% and disease incidence of 142 cases per 100,000 people, followed by cotton regions with 65% resistance and 104 cases per 100,000. Mixed horticulture and rain-fed cereal systems exhibited lower resistance indices of 42% and 29%, respectively. The post-monsoon season recorded the highest resistance index of 74% and disease incidence of 128 cases per 100,000. Resistance level showed a strong positive correlation with disease incidence (r=0.89) and vector density (r=0.84), while vector mortality was negatively correlated with disease incidence (r=-0.86). The findings highlight the need for coordinated insecticide rotation, integrated pest and vector management, biological control, continuous resistance surveillance, and One Health collaboration to protect agricultural productivity while reducing disease-transmission risks.