Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains—particularly in the back—and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In about 15% of people, within a day of improving the fever comes back, abdominal pain occurs, and liver damage begins causing yellow skin. If this occurs, the risk of bleeding and kidney problems is increased.
Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word mosquito is Spanish and Portuguese for little fly. Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, one pair of wings, three pairs of long hair-like legs, and specialized, highly elongated, piercing-sucking mouthparts. All mosquitoes drink nectar from flowers; females of some species have in addition adapted to drink blood. The group diversified during the Cretaceous period. Evolutionary biologists view mosquitoes as micropredators, small animals that parasitise larger ones by drinking their blood without immediately killing them. Medical parasitologists view mosquitoes instead as vectors of disease, carrying protozoan parasites or bacterial or viral pathogens from one host to another.
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease caused by dengue virus, prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas. It is frequently asymptomatic; if symptoms appear they typically begin 3 to 14 days after infection. These may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin itching and skin rash. Recovery generally takes two to seven days. In a small proportion of cases, the disease develops into severe dengue with bleeding, low levels of blood platelets, blood plasma leakage, and dangerously low blood pressure.
Aedes albopictus, from the mosquito (Culicidae) family, also known as the (Asian) tiger mosquito or forest mosquito, is a mosquito native to the tropical and subtropical areas of Southeast Asia. In the past few centuries, however, this species has spread to many countries through the transport of goods and international travel. It is characterized by the white bands on its legs and body.
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a method of biological insect control, whereby overwhelming numbers of sterile insects are released into the wild. The released insects are preferably male, as this is more cost-effective and the females may in some situations cause damage by laying eggs in the crop, or, in the case of mosquitoes, taking blood from humans. The sterile males compete with fertile males to mate with the females. Females that mate with a sterile male produce no offspring, thus reducing the next generation's population. Sterile insects are not self-replicating and, therefore, cannot become established in the environment. Repeated release of sterile males over low population densities can further reduce and in cases of isolation eliminate pest populations, although cost-effective control with dense target populations is subjected to population suppression prior to the release of the sterile males.
Ross River virus (RRV) is a small encapsulated single-strand RNA Alphavirus endemic to Australia, Papua New Guinea and other islands in the South Pacific. It is responsible for a type of mosquito-borne, non-lethal but extremely debilitating tropical disease known as Ross River fever, previously termed "epidemic polyarthritis". There is no known cure, and it can last in the host's system for up to 20 years. The virus is suspected to be enzootic in populations of various native Australian mammals, and has been found on occasion in horses.
Ross River fever is a mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by infection with the Ross River virus. The illness is typically characterised by flu like symptoms combined with polyarthritis and a rash. The virus is endemic to mainland Australia and Tasmania, the island of New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, the Cook Islands, New Caledonia and several other islands in the South Pacific. The illness is Queensland's most prolific mosquito-borne disease.
Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that can spread dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika fever, Mayaro and yellow fever viruses, and other disease agents. The mosquito can be recognized by black and white markings on its legs and a marking in the form of a lyre on the upper surface of its thorax. This mosquito originated in Africa, but is now found in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world.
Temefos or temephos is an organophosphate larvicide used to treat water infested with disease-carrying insects including mosquitoes, midges, and black fly larvae.
Mosquito control manages the population of mosquitoes to reduce their damage to human health, economies, and enjoyment. Mosquito control is a vital public-health practice throughout the world and especially in the tropics because mosquitoes spread many diseases, such as malaria and the Zika virus.
The discipline of medical entomology, or public health entomology, and also veterinary entomology is focused upon insects and arthropods that impact human health. Veterinary entomology is included in this category, because many animal diseases can "jump species" and become a human health threat, for example, bovine encephalitis. Medical entomology also includes scientific research on the behavior, ecology, and epidemiology of arthropod disease vectors, and involves a tremendous outreach to the public, including local and state officials and other stake holders in the interest of public safety.
Ochlerotatus cantator, the brown saltmarsh mosquito, is a species of mosquito from the genus Ochlerotatus. It was formerly known as Aedes cantator. Several Aedes species have been reclassified as Ochlerotatus, O. cantator being one of them.
Ochlerotatus is a genus of mosquito. Until 2000, it was ranked as a subgenus of Aedes, but after Reinert's work, the clade was upgraded to the level of a genus. This change has resulted in the renaming of many subgenus species, and many aedini-related taxa are undergoing taxonomic revisions. Some authors are still using traditional taxonomic names in their publications.
Mosquito-borne diseases or mosquito-borne illnesses are diseases caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites transmitted by mosquitoes. Nearly 700 million people contract mosquito-borne illnesses each year, resulting in more than a million deaths.
Aedes sollicitans, the eastern saltmarsh mosquito, is a species of mosquito native to the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada as well as the entire Gulf coast and is also present in the Bahamas and Greater Antilles. While primarily found in coastal areas within a few miles of the coast, it is occasionally found inland in areas with saline pools, the species was reported as far west as Arizona. The species is a prime vector for Eastern equine encephalitis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis and dog heartworm.
Aedes polynesiensis, the Polynesian tiger mosquito, is only found in the South Pacific on the islands of Austral Islands, Cook Islands, Ellice Islands, Fiji Islands, Hoorn Islands, Marquesas Islands, Pitcairn Island, Samoa Islands, Society Islands, Tokelau Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago. It is a vector of dengue, Ross River virus, and lymphatic filariasis, and a probable vector of Zika virus. Adults lay eggs in natural and human-associated pools of freshwater. Common larval habitats include tree holes, holes in volcanic rock formations, coconut shells, water storage containers (drums), and discarded trash.
Aedes australis is a brackish water mosquito species from the subgenus Halaedes. It is native to Australia. It was first found in New Zealand in 1961 and is now present in the southern half of the South Island.
Parramatta River virus (PaRV) is an insect virus belonging to Flaviviridae and endemic to Australia. It was discovered in 2015. The virus was identified from the mosquito Aedes vigilax collected from Sydney under the joint research project by scientists at the University of Queensland and the University of Sydney. In experimental infections, the virus is unable to grow in vertebrate cells, but only in Aedes-derived mosquito cell lines. This suggests that the virus does not infect vertebrates. The name is given because it was discovered from Silverwater, a suburb of Sydney on the southern bank of the Parramatta River. The mosquitoes from which the virus was isolated were actually collected in 2007, and had been preserved since then. The study commenced only after the development of the technique of viral detection in mosquitoes in the University of Queensland.
Aedes notoscriptus is a species of mosquito found in Australia, New Zealand, the southwestern Pacific islands, and Southern California.
