Mosquito control in the Torres Strait can be tough but it provides protection of the mainland from invading exotic mosquitoes.
medical entomology, tropical public health services cairns
A new study shows how Australian authorities are battling the invasive Asian tiger mosquito in Torres Strait, reducing risks of mosquito-borne disease outbreaks.
Insect repellents can keep biting mosquitoes at bay but they’ve got to be used correctly.
Dr Cameron Webb (NSW Health Pathology/University of Sydney))
Worst year for mosquitoes ever? How do scientists catch and count mosquitoes to work out why mosquito populations fluctuate from year to year? Can we predict outbreaks of mosquito-borne disease?
For viruses like dengue, being injected with the pathogen as in a vaccine can open the door to secondary infections.
from www.shutterstock.com.au
Our immune system protects us but when it comes to some mosquito-borne disease, it can work against us. What are the implications for the development of a Zika virus vaccine?
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.
Mosquitoes are repelled by chicken odours and will actively fly outside when they encounter them.
Shutterstock
Rickard Ignell, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Anopheles arabiensis is the world's most common, malaria-carrying mosquito. Now it's emerged that chickens emit an odour that can repel the deadly insects.
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.
A computer model suggests that while more cases of Zika can be expected in the continental U.S. outbreaks will probably be small and are not projected to spread.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at the Laboratory of Entomology and Ecology of the Dengue Branch of the CDC in San Juan.
Alvin Baez/Reuters
While no one likes getting bitten by mosquitoes, you might be surprised (and even a little fascinated) at the complex adaptions mosquitoes have developed to locate their favorite food sources.
With more birth abnormalities linked to Zika, effects of the virus may be more sinister than we thought.
BMJ 2016
Arthrogryposis is where a baby's joints are deformed due to a shortening (known as contractures) of the muscles from before birth.
The Koka Reservoir in Ethiopia. Steps have been taken to reduce malaria infections without sacrificing the primary purposes of the dam.
David Stanley/Flickr
Bednet insecticides should kill mosquitoes on contact, but some have become highly resistant to the chemicals.
Is a Zika vaccine being tested ahead of vaccines for other flaviviruses because Zika’s occurring in the context of an international sporting competition?
Christian Bruna/AAP
Recently two events concerning the Zika epidemic coincided: two potential vaccines against the virus were declared a success when used in mice, and Jason Day withdrew from the Olympic Games.
Itchy inflamed mozzie bites help viruses to spread.
Keith/Flickr
Innovations targeted at mosquito control are good but should not draw focus away from the tried and tested public health measures to control mosquito-borne diseases.
A human-dependent mosquito, the range of the disease-carrying Aedes aegypti is projected to grow in the U.S. and affect more people globally.
sanofi-pasteur/flickr
Andrew Monaghan, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
More people in the U.S. and world will be exposed to the disease-carrying mosquito Aedes aegypti, not just because of warmer temperatures but global population changes as well.
Visiting Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies, Brown University, USA, and Distinguished Professor, Public Health and Medical Anthropology, University of the Witwatersrand