Climate change could trigger the spread of potentially fatal mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever to parts of Africa that are currently unaffected, study shows.
Climate change could trigger the spread of mosquito-born diseases around Africa and beyond, study suggests.
Climate change could trigger the spread of mosquito-born diseases.
Mosquito-borne diseases or mosquito-borne illnesses are diseases caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites transmitted by mosquitoes. Nearly 700 million people get a mosquito-borne illness each year resulting in over one million deaths.[1]
Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes include malaria, dengue, West Nile virus, chikungunya, yellow fever,[1] filariasis, tularemia, dirofilariasis, Japanese encephalitis, Saint Louis encephalitis, Western equine encephalitis, Eastern equine encephalitis,[2] Venezuelan equine encephalitis, Ross River fever, Barmah Forest fever, La Crosse encephalitis, and Zika fever,[2] as well as newly detected Keystone virus and Rift Valley fever. There is no evidence as of April 2020 that COVID-19 can be transmitted by mosquitoes, and it is extremely unlikely this could occur.[3][4] Also HIV/AIDS is not transmittable through mosquito contact, despite being caused by a virus that can be transmitted through blood.[5]
