Larvae of a new malaria mosquito species are abundantly present in water containers in cities in Ethiopia. The mosquito, Anopheles stephensi, is the main malaria mosquito in India but only appeared on the African continent a few years ago. In Africa, malaria is traditionally been a rural disease with towns and cities associated with much lower levels or absence of malaria. This makes Anopheles stephensi a notorious mosquito species for urban malariaThe Asian mosquito appears to be particularly susceptible to African malariaA mosquito species only poses a health risk if it can spread local malaria parasites. "To our surprise, the Asian mosquito turned out to be even more susceptible to local malaria parasites than our Ethiopian mosquito colony.

Source: Ethiopian News January 27, 2021 19:07 UTC