Mosquitoes

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Edible fish feasts beats malaria

The emerging threat of pesticide resistance means that biological malaria control methods are once again in vogue. New research published in the online open access journal BMC Public Health shows how Nile tilapia, a fish more commonly served up to Kenyan diners, is a valuable weapon against malaria mosquitoes.

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Effective insecticide-repellent synergy against mosquito vectors

The mosquitoes responsible for malaria transmission to humans belong to the Anopheles genus. One of the best known and most extensively studied is Anopheles gambiae, Africa’s principal malaria vector. The protection recommended by the World Health Organization for people at risk from this devastating disease is the use of mosquito nets impregnated with pyrethroids, of low toxicity for mammals and highly active against mosquitoes.

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Miraculous Mosquito Legs

Mosquitoes walk on water better than water striders, cling to smooth ceilings and walls as tightly as geckos, and clutch the skin of their victims with annoying tenacity in search of blood.

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Why some mosquitoes are resistant to malaria?

A team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers has discovered why some mosquitoes are resistant to malaria, a finding that may one day help fight a disease that afflicts and kills millions of people.

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Comparing genes involved in insects immunity, their ability to spread disease

A Kansas State University biochemist's contributions to research on immune systems in mosquitoes are part of a journal article appearing in Science magazine.

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Mosquito genes could be controlling spread of killer viruses

The genes that make up the immune system of the Aedes aegypti mosquito which transmits deadly viral diseases to humans have been identified in new research out today in Science.

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Invertebrate immune systems are anything but simple

A hundred years since Russian microbiologist Elie Metschnikow first discovered the invertebrate immune system, scientists are only just beginning to understand its complexity. Presenting their findings at a recent European Science Foundation (ESF) conference, scientists showed that invertebrates have evolved elaborate ways to fight disease.

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Vaccine hope for malaria

One person dies of it every 30 seconds, it rivals HIV and tuberculosis as the world's most deadly infection and the vast majority of its victims are under five years old. Now, just over 100 years since Britain's Sir Ronald Ross was awarded the Nobel Prize for finally proving that malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes, researchers at The University of Nottingham believe they have made a significant breakthrough in the search for an effective vaccine.

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Mosquito can break viral chain

Most people do their best to avoid mosquitoes. But this summer Rollie Clem will play the wary host to his own homegrown swarm of Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito. He's made a room ready for them, and even a menu.

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Dengue and other hemorrhagic fevers

Globally, 60 to 100 million people are hit by Dengue, a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. The most severe form of this disease, which causes blood loss, can lead to a fatal shock-like state (Dengue Shock Syndrome) with or without associated haemorrhage, and is currently increasing in tropical countries.

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Identification of carbon dioxide receptors in insects may help fight infectious disease

Mosquitoes don't mind morning breath. They use the carbon dioxide people exhale as a way to identify a potential food source. But when they bite, they can pass on a number of dangerous infectious diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever, and West Nile encephalitis.

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