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.
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.
Aedes is a genus of mosquitoes originally found in tropical and subtropical zones, but now found on all continents except Antarctica. Some species have been spread by human activity: Aedes albopictus, a particularly invasive species, was spread to the Americas, including the United States, in the 1980s, by the used-tire trade.
Arbovirus is an informal name for any virus that is transmitted by arthropod vectors. The term arbovirus is a portmanteau word. Tibovirus is sometimes used to more specifically describe viruses transmitted by ticks, a superorder within the arthropods. Arboviruses can affect both animals and plants. In humans, symptoms of arbovirus infection generally occur 3–15 days after exposure to the virus and last three or four days. The most common clinical features of infection are fever, headache, and malaise, but encephalitis and viral hemorrhagic fever may also occur.
Vector control is any method to limit or eradicate the mammals, birds, insects or other arthropods which transmit disease pathogens. The most frequent type of vector control is mosquito control using a variety of strategies. Several of the "neglected tropical diseases" are spread by such vectors.
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.
A larvicide is an insecticide that is specifically targeted against the larval life stage of an insect. Their most common use is against mosquitoes. Larvicides may be contact poisons, stomach poisons, growth regulators, or (increasingly) biological control agents.
An ovitrap is a device which consists of a dark container topped with a mesh and containing water, and a substrate where mosquitoes can lay their eggs. The eggs then fall through the mesh into the water, where the larvae hatch and develop into pupas. When the adult mosquitoes emerge, they are trapped beneath the mesh and are unable to escape from the ovitrap. Ovitraps mimic the preferred breeding site for container breeding mosquitoes, including Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti.
The 2006 dengue outbreak in Pakistan was at the time the worst on record. There were 1931 lab-confirmed cases, and 41 confirmed deaths, according to the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. Other sources report a death toll of 52.
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.
Alexander S. Raikhel is a distinguished professor of entomology at the University of California, Riverside, and an elected member of the United States National Academy of Sciences.
Oxitec is a UK-based, US-owned biotechnology company that develops genetically modified insects in order to improve public health and food security through insect control. The insects act as biological insecticides. Insects are controlled without the use of chemical insecticides. Instead, the insects are genetically engineered to be unable to produce offspring. The company claims that this technology is more effective than insecticides and more environmentally friendly.
Aedes africanus is a species of mosquito that is found on the continent of Africa with the exclusion of Madagascar. Aedes aegypti and Aedes africanus are the two main yellow fever vector species in Zambia. Aedes africanus is mainly found in tropical forests not near wetlands.
In October 2013, there was an outbreak of Zika fever in French Polynesia, the first outbreak of several Zika outbreaks across Oceania. With 8,723 cases reported, it was the largest outbreak of Zika fever before the outbreak in the Americas that began in April 2015. An earlier outbreak occurred on Yap Island in the Federated States of Micronesia in 2007, but it is thought that the 2013–2014 outbreak involved an independent introduction of the Zika virus from Southeast Asia. Investigators suggested that the outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases in the Pacific from 2012 to 2014 were "the early stages of a wave that will continue for several years", particularly because of their vulnerability to infectious diseases stemming from isolation and immunologically naive populations.
Aedes luteocephalus is an African species that is a demonstrated or suspected vector of several important arboviral diseases of humans. First described in 1907 as Stegomyia luteocephala, the species is currently classified in the genus Aedes, subgenus Stegomyia.
An ovillanta is a type of mosquito trap designed by researchers at Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada, and tested in cooperation with the Ministry of Health in Guatemala and with researchers in Mexico. The simple, low-cost trap allows efficient collection and disposal of mosquito eggs and larvae.
In the 2020 dengue outbreak in Singapore, a record-breaking number of dengue fever cases was reported in Singapore. This was part of the wider 2019–2020 dengue fever epidemic which also affected several neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia.
