Mosquitoes kill nearly three-quarters of a million people each year worldwide and sicken millions more. Malaria by itself is responsible for more than half of mosquito-related deaths, predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa. Mosquitoes also transmit dengue, lymphatic filariasis, chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis, and yellow fever, among other diseases.In fact, only 3 out 3,500 mosquitos species transmit disease to humans, but they manage to do a lot of damage:
1. Anopheles mosquitoes are the only species known to carry human malaria. They also transmit filariasis and encephalitis.
2. Culex mosquitoes carry encephalitis, filariasis, and the West Nile virus.
3. Aedes mosquitoes, of which the voracious Asian tiger is a member, carry yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya, and Zika.Obviously, the Zika outbreak in the western hemisphere has heightened the current interest in mosquito eradication, but as evidenced by the above quote from the President's Malaria Initiative, malaria is still the biggest reason for a human to fear the sight or sound of a mosquito.
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