Infectious diseases have not been relegated to humankind’s past, far from it. This is being strikingly illustrated by the ongoing Zika fever epidemic in South America. While interest for the links between infectious diseases and the environment, in particular for vector-borne and zoonotic diseases, has drawn the attention of scientists from various disciplines for a long time, the currently exploding data availability and modelling capacity are opening new avenues for a better understanding and prediction of such infections. We present a resource-based habitat concept, expanded to include human populations, as a framework for unifying knowledge and research in the field of vectorborne diseases, with a focus on Aedes-borne viruses such as Zika virus and dengue virus.

Paper presented at the meeting of the Section of Human Sciences held on 16 February 2016. Text received on 3 June 2016 and submitted to peer review. Final version approved by the reviewers received on 16 December 2016.