World Mosquito Day: Significance, Facts About The World’s Deadliest Animal

World Mosquito Day, observed every Aug. 20, marks the day in 1897 when British doctor, Sir Ronald Ross, discovered that female Anopheles mosquitoes are the vectors that transmit malaria between humans.h

On this day, we commemorate the important discovery and raise awareness about the harms continued to be posed by the “world’s deadliest animal.”

Ross’ landmark finding led to a better understanding of malaria. But more than a hundred years later, even with more advanced preventive measures, malaria is still a heavy burden, causing thousands of deaths each year.

Malaria causes 400,000 deaths each year, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), citing data from the World Health Organization (WHO). And that sobering data is for malaria alone.

Other mosquito-borne diseases can also be dangerous and potentially deadly. Some of them can also be devastating even if they don’t lead to death. Chikungunya, for instance, can cause “crippling joint pain,” according to NIAID. Zika in pregnant women may also lead to “severe birth abnormalities.”

People can observe World Mosquito Day by donating to groups and organizations dedicated to fighting malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases. Others may opt to learn more about malaria, which continues to devastate many parts of the world, and share the important information they learn with the people they know.

On this day, let’s look at some important information about mosquitoes. (Courtesy: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Geographic and Britannica)

• There are more than 3,000 species of mosquitoes. Of these, three are primarily responsible for spreading human diseases: Anopheles, Culex and Aedes mosquitoes
• Adult mosquitoes can live both indoors and outdoors, and bite whether it’s day or nighttime
• Mosquitoes kill more people than any other creature in the world, making them the “world’s deadliest animal”
• Only female mosquitoes bite people and animals, as they are the only ones with the mouth parts to bite
• Mosquitoes use factors such as body odors, carbon dioxide, lactic acid, movement and temperature to find their targets
• Mosquito-borne diseases are responsible for millions of deaths worldwide each year
• Not all mosquitoes spread germs. Others that bite but don’t spread pathogens are called nuisance mosquitoes
• When mosquitoes bite, they puncture two tubes into the skin. One of them sucks the blood and the other injects an enzyme to prevent blood clot
• The blood isn’t actually for the mosquitoes themselves but for their eggs
• All mosquitoes need water to be able to breed. This is why one of the important ways to prevent them from proliferating is by removing stagnant sources of water
• One of the ways humans have developed to control mosquito population is by genetically engineering male mosquitoes so that their offspring will die even before they become sexually mature