All you need to know about the primary mosquito that transmits ZIKA

Started by RNOfficer, August 16, 2016, 01:18:48 AM

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RNOfficer

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/aedes-aegypti-good-transmitting-zika-faqs/

Aedes aegypti  is also a vector for Yellow Fever and dengue. Mexico is experiencing major dengue outbreaks and it is believed this will spread to the US.

The good news: Aedes aegypti will not travel far in its pursuit of human blood and requires still water (although not much of it) to breed. Therefore the systematic elimination of local breeding sites such as flower pots, rain barrels, puddles is effective in greatly reduces the risk of being bitten by Aedes aegypti.

An excellent description of the elimination of Yellow Fever by destroying Aedes aegypti breeding sites is in  David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870–1914 . McCullough points out that the French inadvertently were responsible for the propagation of Aedes aegypti and therefore Yellow Fever because they put each leg of beds in a can of water to prevent ubiquitous ants from from crawling up to the bed. These cans provided perfect breeding grounds for these mosquitoes which were relatively rare in the canal area because they require still water for breeding.The natural water in that area tends to be moving because of the hilly terrain.