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Malaria kills hundreds of thousands of people each year, many of them children in Africa.
The mosquito that primarily spreads malaria in Africa, Anopheles gambiae, does not like pools of contaminated water in big cities and has not learned to put its larvae in city water tanks. Therefore, most people are infected in rural areas.
In a study published in the scientific journal PNAS, the entomologist Marianne Sinka has examined the mosquito species Anopheles stephensi, which is found mainly in Asia.
The species already caused a major malaria outbreak in Djibouti’s capital in the Horn of Africa in 2012, a city where malaria barely existed before. The mosquito has also been observed in Ethiopia and Sudan, among other places.
Anopheles stephensi has learned to go through crevices to enter water tanks, especially those made of brick and concrete. Marianne Sinka says that it is the only species of mosquito that is really good at establishing itself in central urban settings.
She and her colleagues have found 44 major cities in Africa, mostly around the equator, with conditions that are highly suitable for mosquito species.
Unlike African mosquitoes, which like to bite people at night when it’s cold, Anopheles stephensi can suck blood at night when it’s hotter. And that makes bed nets less effective.
Installing mosquito nets on the windows, having insect repellent on the walls and covering the body is a better way to protect yourself from this mosquito.
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