mosquito (Page 3)

Why do mosquitoes bite some people much more than others?This is merely annoying to those of us living in the West,but to people living in places like Africa, where malaria isrampant, it can mean the difference between life and death.Now scientists have discovered why mosquitoes like some ofus much more than others. All humans produce smells whichattract these insects, but people who don’t get bitten asoften produce another smell which masks these scents. Ifbugs like you, how can you avoid getting bitten? Hang aroundsomeone whom the bugs DON’T like to bite.
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Dengue fever is one of two mosquito-borne illnesses that have Florida health officials increasingly worried about a major outbreak. The other one is West Nile virus, which first showed up in the United States in 1999 and quickly moved south. Last year, 53 of Florida?s 67 counties were under medical alert for the virus.

Now officials worry that dengue fever will also spread to Florida. In recent years, there have only been about four cases a year, all imported by people who had were bitten in other countries.
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With global warming, large parts of southern England and Wales are at risk from malaria. Scientist say the disease is most likely to arrive in river areas and low-lying wetlands. Humans become infected when bitten by a mosquito that is carrying the parasite.

Researchers at Durham University in the U.K. used a mathematical model to predict how global warming will increase the threat of malaria in coming years. They studied vivax malaria, which can be transmitted by a species of mosquito commonly found in Britain, Anopheles atroparvus. A rise in temperature encourages the mosquito to breed and feed more rapidly and also speeds up the maturation of the malaria parasite.
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