Study Blames Breath, Body Odors for Mosquito Bites

The carbon dioxide we exhale and the odors that emanate from our skins are the vital factors that attract female mosquitoes to bite and spread diseases.

The carbon dioxide we exhale and the odors that emanate from our skins are the vital factors that attract female mosquitoes to bite and spread diseases such as malaria, dengue and yellow fever.

Entomologists at the University of California, Riverside, studied how female Aedes aegypti-mosquitoes that transmit yellow fever and dengue-respond to plumes of carbon dioxide and human odor.

Malaria - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Prevention, Treatment
Malaria is caused by a parasite that enters blood through the bite of an infected mosquito. It is characterized by fever, vomiting, shivering, sweating and other symptoms.

Ring Carde, a distinguished professor of entomology at the University of California, and Teun Dekker, an assistant professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Research, found that puffs of exhaled carbon dioxide first attract these mosquitoes, which then proceed to follow a broad skin odor plume, eventually landing on a human host.

The results could clue scientists on how odors can be used in traps for intercepting and capturing host-seeking mosquitoes.

"Carbon dioxide induces a faster and more direct upwind orientation than skin odor," said Carde.

About Mosquito Diseases
Mosquito-borne diseases, like malaria, filaria, dengue, etc are common in places conducive of mosquito breeding. Swamps, ponds and stagnated drainage provide optimal breeding ground for mosquitoes.

"Our experiments show that the response of yellow fever mosquitoes to skin odor requires an exposure longer than that of carbon dioxide to induce upwind flight," he added.

The study will appear in the October 15 issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Yellow Fever | Acute Viral Hemorrhagic Fever - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment
Yellow fever is a hemorrhagic fever that is transmitted by infected mosquitoes and it can lead to liver failure and death.

Source-ANI

Dengue and Dengue Fever - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment & Prevention
Dengue is a tropical disease caused by mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus. Symptoms include fever, joint & muscle ache, fatigue, nausea and skin rash.