Mosquitoes one of deadliest animals, warns WHO

In 2015, malaria alone caused 4,38,000 deaths while worldwide the incidence of dengue rose 30-fold in the past 30 years, and more countries are reporting their first outbreaks of the disease. Zika, dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever are all transmitted to humans by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. More than half of the world’s population live in areas where this mosquito species is present.

There are several different types of mosquitoes and some have the ability to carry many different diseases, the global body warned calling for sustained mosquito control efforts to prevent outbreaks from these diseases. According to WHO, vectorborne diseases account for more than 17 per cent of all infectious diseases, causing more than one million deaths annually.

In more than 100 countries, over 2.5 billion people are at risk of contracting dengue alone. However, malaria causes more than 6,00,000 deaths every year globally, mainly children below five years of age. Lesser known diseases such as Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis also affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide— all spread via mosquito bite. 

Many of these diseases are preventable through informed protective measures, says WHO. Vectors are living organisms that can transmit infectious diseases between humans or from animals to humans. Many of these vectors are bloodsucking insects. In fact, mosquitoes are the best known disease vector. 

Globalisation of travel and trade, unplanned urbanisation and environmental challenges such as  climate change are key factors for the spread of these diseases, unknown till recently in most countries. In fact, diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and West Nile virus, are vaulting in countries where they were previously unknown. 

Prolonged steamy and humid weather and changes in agricultural practices due to variation in temperature and rainfall can also affect the transmission of vectorborne diseases.