Models based on where the mosquitoes that transmit Zika are found and human travel patterns to and from infected areas are key to predicting where the virus will spread.
The link between microcephaly in unborn children and Zika hasn’t been definitely confirmed, but vaccine development is a top priority.
Percio Campos/EPA
As Zika fear rises, people are inevitably asking why we don’t have a vaccine to protect against the mosquito-borne virus.
Municipal workers wait before spraying insecticide to prevent the spread of Aedes aegypti mosquito at Sambodrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, January 26, 2016.
Pilar Olivares/Reuters
Zika was discovered almost 70 years ago, but wasn’t associated with outbreaks until 2007. So how did this formerly obscure virus wind up causing so much trouble in Brazil?
There is little doubt the virus can make it to Australia.
mrfiza/Shutterstock
We monitor mosquitoes to help predict and control virus outbreaks. And a new technique for collecting mosquito saliva from the field has made the process both more sensitive and inexpensive.
The immune system protects us from the constant onslaught of viruses, bacteria and other types of pathogens we encounter throughout life. But it can sometimes misbehave.
Will climate change cause mosquito-borne diseases to spread?
Steve Doggett
The UK’s recent heatwave is perfect for mosquito breeding but something far more dangerous may be coming.
An historian reading the government White Paper on developing northern Australia will realise we’re actually heading all the way back to the 1890s.
andrew matthews/Flickr
The federal government’s recent White Paper on developing northern Australia has disturbing echoes of the 1890s, a time when unbridled capitalism and indentured labour developed the North.
A global killer – we need to use all the resources we can get.
CDC Global
Annihilate the Aedes aegypti mosquito population and you’d stop dengue fever from infecting up to 100 million people worldwide annually. Here are some high-tech methods under development.
A changing climate may contribute to more mosquito-borne disease, but it doesn’t guarantee it.
john dunstan/Flickr
Mosquitoes need blood to survive. And what better place to get a good meal than a slow, tasty human. Mosquitoes aren’t just annoying. Every year around 5,000 Australians get sick following a mosquito bite…
Many tropical diseases such as malaria, Chagas disease and dengue are transmitted to humans via mosquitoes and other carriers known as vectors. These vector-borne diseases continue to have a major impact…
Air travel can turn epidemics into pandemics.
Bobby Yip/Reuters
More than 8,000 people have died from Ebola in West Africa since February 2014 and it has spread beyond the three countries initially affected. So, it’s an epidemic, right? Or is it an outbreak? What about…
The pest hides out in pot plants and rainwater tanks, and feeds on humans and pets.
Clivid/Flickr
An Australian native mosquito has for the first time been detected in urban California, in the latest wave of mozzies hitching rides to new destinations. While it is unlikely to pose a significant health…
Australian travellers are increasingly returning home infected with mosquito-borne diseases.
Flickr:hkroeger28
Football fever may not be the only thing spreading when hundreds of thousands of sports fans converge on Brazil for the FIFA World Cup this June and July. Mass events such as the Olympic and Commonwealth…
Principal Medical Scientist and Head of Laboratory for Antimalarial Resistance Monitoring and Malaria Operational Research, National Institute for Communicable Diseases