West Nile virus is spread by mosquitoes. About 80 per cent of infected people have no symptoms, but the virus can cause encephalitis and can be life-threatening.
(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
West Nile virus arrived in North America in 1999 and spread across the continent by 2005. Here’s what you need to know about this mosquito-borne pathogen.
Warm weather has arrived and that means our annual battle against mosquitoes is back on. Here are five ways to mosquito-proof your backyard that don’t rely on spraying insecticides.
Genetic modification could make malaria-carrying mosquitoes harmless.
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Shüné Oliver, National Institute for Communicable Diseases et Jaishree Raman, National Institute for Communicable Diseases
Methods that don’t rely on insecticides are needed to bolster the fight against mosquito-borne diseases.
A group of Anopheles mosquitoes taking a blood meal in an experiment conducted by the New Mexico State University Molecular Vector Physiology Lab.
Hansen MVP lab
An expert on mosquito ecology provides top tips to avoid being bitten by these pesky insects.
Lagos residents use art to draw attention to the gaps in the prevention and treatment of malaria. According to UNICEF, over 1,000 children under the age of 5 catch malaria every day.
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Murray Valley encephalitis has been detected in south-eastern Australia. No human cases have yet been reported, but past outbreaks after floods show we need to be cautious.
It’s only wishful thinking that you can ward off mosquitoes from within.
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A medical myth persists that the B vitamin thiamine is a systemic insect repellent that wards off mosquitoes when taken orally. But scientists have disproven this mistaken belief again and again.
Shüné Oliver, National Institute for Communicable Diseases et Jaishree Raman, National Institute for Communicable Diseases
As the Earth warms up the malaria vector will develop faster, allowing them to breed faster, bite more frequently and expand into formerly unsuitable habitats.
80% of malaria deaths are in children younger than five.
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Mozzies can make you sick by injecting a cocktail of saliva and virus when they bite. Ross River virus has long been a risk but now we’re also contending with the more serious Japanese encephalitis.
Mosquitoes can track down potential hosts using the CO2 released by humans’ metabolic processes, a medical entomologist explains.
People catch La Crosse disease primarily from the bite of the eastern tree-hole mosquito – although two other species may also carry the virus.
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Principal Medical Scientist and Head of Laboratory for Antimalarial Resistance Monitoring and Malaria Operational Research, National Institute for Communicable Diseases