Mosquitoes increasingly like human blood

This explains why diseases such as West Nile virus have spread.

Mosquitoes are increasingly fond of human blood

This explains why diseases like West Nile Virus spread quickly.

New research shows that mosquitoes are changing their behavior.And the news is not good for humanity.Apparently, these insects love our blood more and more.

On the Atlantic coast of Brazil, several groups of scientists have been making mosquito traps for years to monitor the activity of these animals.In particular, they are very interested in the insect population of two nature reserves: Sityo Recanto and the Guapiacu River Ecological Reserve.They make hundreds of light baits to attract their victims.They took DNA samples and synthesized the details of every vertebrate species living in the area, including humans.genetic information.By observing these footprints, they are able to determine which animals were bitten by mosquitoes before they died.

After analyzing data from 1,714 insects from 52 different species, they spotted the blood of 145 females - those that actually feed on the blood of animals or humans to feed their larvae.Out of all the blood remains, the contents of 24 samples were identified, 18 of which correspond to human cells.

The data is surprising.Such a high prevalence in human blood has never been observed.To give you an idea, the study only found one sample from a dog, one from a mouse and six from birds.Some mosquito species such as Cq.

"This is not the result we wanted," said one of the study's authors, microbiologist Sergio Lisboa Machado of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.We are conducting research in an area of great vertebrate diversity.We wanted to find DNA from many different species.But this large amount of human blood surprised us.

Experts believe that changes made in forest ecosystems in recent decades are also forcing changes in insect habits.As the biodiversity of the region is reduced by human urbanization pressure, climate change or species extinction, many mosquito food sources are disappearing.Other insects and vertebrates are less adapted to these changes and eventually disappear or greatly reduce their numbers.But mosquitoes have adaptive mechanisms.surprisingly effective.This allows them to change their behavior after a few generations and always adapt to available energy sources.

In this century, Brazil's Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlantica) has lost a quarter of its length.The decrease in growth led to the extinction of many species.When mosquitoes adapt to drink human blood, they keep a constant look at it, as an available food source.This adaptive mechanism is doubly dangerous for humans.First, because more species of insects seem not to have attacked us before and now they prefer us.And secondly, because as the variety of species that attack us increases, the possibility of the emergence of pathogens that cause infectious diseases increases.

The adaptation of mosquitoes to human presence is very rapid ... but not so fast.In the scientific literature was allowed to quotes as an example CUlex Molestus, a species that are finding wide in the landinaThe mosquito was widely learned during the Second World War because it was perfectly adapted to live in the tunnels of the British capital, feeding with the blood of humans that have taken shelter there.Corresponds to people.

Recent research has shown, however, that this species already existed in ancient Egypt, rather than the actual species living in London.

It is known that certain genetic mutations allow mosquitoes to easily feed on human and bird blood at the same time.This explains why diseases such as West Nile virus spread so quickly in northern latitudes, carried by birds and transmitted to humans by mosquitoes.

The relationship between pests and public health is becoming increasingly important.Field work since 2001 has shown that the disease is twice as likely to be zoonotic today.That is, new pathologies that will occur in the future are likely to be transmitted by animals.Mosquitoes will be among the most dangerous.

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