aedes aegypti

A patient is transferred to a hospital after receiving medical care at an improvised military aid station set up to treat suspected cases of dengue fever in the administrative region of Ceilandia, on the outskirts of Brasilia, on February 6, 2024.

Health & Safety

With a million cases of dengue so far this year, Brazil is in a state of emergency

4:00pm March 04, 2024

by Jill Langlois

Brazil looks to short-term and long-term strategies to fight a disease so painful it's known as "breakbone fever." The outbreak is part of a global wave of dengue triggered in part by climate change.

Health officials at Sarasota County Mosquito Management Services study specimens of anopheles mosquitoes that cause malaria, in Sarasota, Fla. on June 30, 2023. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert after five cases of malaria were confirmed, the first locally acquired cases of the disease in the United States in 20 years.

New gene-editing tools may help wipe out mosquito-borne diseases

5:01am January 26, 2024

by Greg Allen

Scientists say gene-editing technology may eradicate a mosquito in the U.S. that spreads dengue and other diseases. Concerns remain about the possible environmental impact of bioengineered mosquitoes.

With her blood meal visible through her transparent abdomen, the female Aedes aegypti mosquito takes flight as she leaves her host's skin surface.

Why One Dangerous Mosquito Developed A Taste For Human Blood

4:13pm July 23, 2020

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Given the choice between an animal and a human, the Aedes aegypti species prefers ... us. A new study explains how that happened.

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World map showing current and projected habitats of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

CHART: Where Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes Will Go In The Future

5:49pm March 28, 2019

by Rebecca Ellis

A new study predicts how far north these insects could live if climate change goes unchecked.

These mosquitoes have been fed a new artificial blood called "SkitoSnack."

Health & Safety

To Satisfy Bloodthirsty Lab Mosquitoes, Give 'Em The Fake Stuff

4:55pm August 23, 2018

by Carolyn M. Wilke

Feeding mosquitoes artificial blood could help get them ready to go out in the world and stanch the flow of disease — and reduce the need for animal blood

Michelle Flandez's son Inti Perez — pictured at home in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, in 2016 — was born with microcephaly linked to the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

CDC Reveals Sharper Numbers Of Zika Birth Defects From U.S. Territories

6:13pm June 08, 2017

by Richard Harris

About 5 percent of pregnant women infected with Zika in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories last year had babies with birth defects, says the federal health agency. And the risk isn't over.

Protest signs at the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District board's meeting Saturday in Marathon, Fla.

Florida Keys Approves Trial Of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes To Fight Zika

2:58pm November 20, 2016

by Greg Allen

In the Florida Keys, no cases of locally transmitted Zika have been reported, but officials have decided to go ahead with trials of a genetically modified mosquito to combat the spread of the disease.

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Joseph Blackman, a Miami-Dade County mosquito control inspector, at work in Miami. Mosquitoes infected with Zika are now spreading the illness in at least four different parts of the city, according to federal health officials.

Zika May Be In The U.S. To Stay

5:18pm October 26, 2016

by Greg Allen

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now urges pregnant women to "consider postponing travel to all parts of Miami-Dade County." Zika is on the way to becoming an endemic disease in the U.S.

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The title card from a 1945 government film about the campaign to control Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and prevent dengue and yellow fever.

Today's Tools For Combating Zika Mosquitoes Hark Back To 1945

5:00am May 21, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

The message about reducing the risk from the Aedes aegypti mosquito is the same today as it was 70 years ago. This time there's just a new virus involved.

A Starry-Eyed 4-Step Guide To Wiping Out A Mosquito

12:02pm March 30, 2016

by Malaka Gharib

You'd need a mosquito czar, worldwide cooperation, millions of dollars and the hope that the technology works out. Good luck!