Mosquitoes - Global

Dengue is transmitted by a bite from an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito. This is the same species that spreads Zika, Chikungunya and yellow fever. The most common symptoms of dengue are high fever, headaches and joint and muscle pain. (Photo by: BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

forbes.com - by Daphne Ewing-Chow - December 31, 2019

In January 2019, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) warned the Caribbean region of an expected spike in dengue fever and called on communities to exercise caution and support the elimination of mosquito breeding sites to help combat the virus.

A full year later, the number of individuals in the Americas having contracted the mosquito-borne virus is approaching 3 million with at least 1,372 recorded deaths— the highest number of cases on record. The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and other experts have pointed to climate change as one of the leading causes for the surge in numbers, with poor environmental management and increased adaptability of mosquitoes listed as other causes.

Zika's blood-sucking predator

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Zika virus–related neurotropic flaviviruses infect human placental explants and cause fetal demise in mice

cnn.com - by Susan Scutti - February 18, 2018

In 2016, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the Zika virus caused birth defects in babies born to women who had been infected while pregnant. This was the first mosquito-borne disease known to cause birth defects . . . 

 . . . Now, a study suggests that two viruses that are related to Zika can cause similar birth defects.

West Nile and Powassan viruses caused fetal death in infected pregnant mice, the researchers say.

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CLICK HERE - NEJM - Zika Virus and Birth Defects — Reviewing the Evidence for Causality

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Zika Virus in Salivary Glands of Five Different Species of Wild-Caught Mosquitoes from Mexico

mvcac.org - January 25, 2018

Researchers identified three new mosquito carriers of Zika virus in Mexico and say all three are potential vectors of the disease.

Writing in Scientific Reports, the researchers reported isolating Zika virus from the salivary glands of wild-caught female Culex coronator, C.tarsalis and Aedes vexans mosquitoes, as well as other previously reported vectors, including A. aegypti, the primary driver of the recent Zika virus epidemic in the Americas. They also isolated Zika from different body parts of wild-caught female C. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes and whole males from the A.aegypti and C. quinquefasciatus species.

“Our findings strongly suggest that all the species reported herein are potential vectors for [Zika virus],” they wrote.

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