Female mosquitoes don’t want to lay their eggs alone, but they don’t want sites that are too crowded either. Understanding what guides their choice could inform new control strategies.
The two year old girl being examined for the possibility of leprosy in Marana, Madagascar,
Laetitia Bezain/dpa via Getty Images
Neglected tropical diseases are often associated with social exclusion as well as physical suffering. One billion people around the world suffer from these diseases.
Authorities have been warned about five virus families that could cause future pandemics. Here are snapshots of the diseases each can cause and why we should be worried.
The pandemic coincides with the long rainy season in Kenya. Rain increases mosquito breeding sites, vector density and thus transmission of mosquito-borne diseases.
Mosquito eggs can remain viable for years even in dry conditions and hatch after heavy persistent rains.
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Prolonged rains increase the amount of stagnant water in the environment in which mosquitoes breed. This increases the risk of mosquito-borne diseases.
Although yellow fever does not currently exist in Australia, the species Aedes aegypti - which can transmit the disease - is found widely across northern Queensland. The virus remains a global health concern, but citizen scientists could help prevent its spread.
Simon Kutcher/flickr
Nuisance-biting and mosquito-borne disease are ongoing concerns for health authorities. But an effective citizen science program is now showing how all of us can help beat the bite of mozzies.
A female Aedes albopictus mosquito feeding on a human host.
James Gathany/CDC
While no deaths have been reported in Ethiopia so far, outbreaks of the mosquito-borne disease spread rapidly and have severe impacts on public health.
The Nipah virus in India is just one example of a viral outbreak in 2018.
PRAKASH ELAMAKKARA/EAP/AAP
It doesn’t just seem like the world is experiencing more viral infections than before – it’s a reality. And the way humans live today helps viruses thrive.
At a construction site in New Delhi, workers are exposed to mosquito repellent.
Manan Vatsyayana/AFP
Olivier Telle, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
The spread of infectious diseases such as chikungunya is closely linked to urban mobility, yet small Indian cities could play a crucial role in the resilience process.
In the future, traps for mosquito that spread the dengue and chikungunya virus could be made from the carbon dioxide in human breathe as well as body odour.
Several sites in the US are releasing bacteria-infected mosquitoes as a way to fight mosquito-borne viruses that threaten people. What’s the science – and how well will it work?
Cages full of hand reared yellow fever mosquitoes await research (or possibly release)
Cameron Webb, NSW Health Pathology/University of Sydney
Upscaling the success of emerging mosquito control technologies relies on automating the rearing and release of millions of mosquitoes. Australia is to become the testing ground for a novel strategy.
The outbreak of Zika virus in Brazil had Australian travellers on alert but transmission is only possible in tropical Queensland.
Cameron Webb
New research shows common local mosquitoes aren’t able to spread Zika. This means Australia is unlikely to see a major outbreak of the disease. But a risk remains in northern Queensland.
Inflammation caused by mosquito bites helps viruses to infect the body.
A patient with symptoms of the Chikungunya virus in a Dominican hospital. Outbreaks have been reported in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Reuters/Ricardo Rojas
There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat the chikungunya virus infection. The only available method of prevention is through shielding people from mosquito bites.