A minimum data standard for reporting host-feeding patterns of vectors

Vector host-feeding patterns provide insights about transmission cycles of vector-borne pathogens. The host-feeding patterns are investigated by the bloodmeal identification of engorged vector specimens collected in the field. Publications on host-feeding patterns often do not report their methods and results in a standardized way. A lot of information is especially lost due to missing (e.g. GPS coordinates), incomplete (e.g. vector species) or aggregated information (e.g. sampling site and time point). This prevents systematic analysis in a broad context, e.g. in meta-analysis or comparative studies. Therefore, we here propose a minimum standard data basis for reporting the methods and the results of studies on the host-feeding patterns of vectors. The usefulness of the proposed variables for standardization are demonstrated with the example of a data extraction from previously published study on mosquito host-feeding patterns in Panama: Navia-Gine, W. G., Loaiza, J. R. & Miller, M. J. Mosquito-host interactions during and after an outbreak of equine viral encephalitis in eastern panama. PLoS One 8, e81788 (2013)