Mosquitoes, already feared for spreading potentially deadly diseases such as malaria and dengue, are now found to also harbour viruses beyond the pathogens that these insects have long been notorious vectors for.
After examining the immune system of Aedes aegypti, an increasingly common mosquito now found on all continents, researchers at Boston University’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine in the United States have found “many more insect viruses” inside the mosquito.
The creature in question has a near “global reach”, according to the team, and transmits not only yellow fever – the severe form of which kills one in two people affected – but also dengue, Zika and chikungunya.
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But while the detection of viruses that had previously gone unnoticed is surely concerning, the team believes the discovery can be made work in our favour.
“We now want to develop these entities as tools to treat non-infected mosquitoes, perhaps inoculate mosquitoes to be more resistant against the pathogenic arboviruses that cause human diseases,” said study corresponding author Associate Professor Dr Nelson Lau, whose team’s paper was published in the journal Nature.
The researchers said they “someday” hope that the mosquitoes’ immune systems can be deployed “to battle some of the most pervasive and antagonistic human viruses”.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has warned of a resurgence of mosquito-borne diseases in southern Europe, evoking a return to the status quo ante when ancient Rome was plagued with malaria. – dpa
