All of nature is wondrous and amazing, right? Well, if you’ve ever been the victim of a swarm of mosquitos, you might not feel that way. Quite amazingly, just one tiny mosquito, almost too small to see, can suddenly take over your life. Then there is the issue of camping, for as every camper knows, mosquitos can be nothing short of exasperating!
Unfortunately, mosquitos provide more than merely annoying bites that cause serious itching. Mosquitos, very quietly, have become one of the single largest killers on earth. Diseases that mosquitos spread cause tremendous misery worldwide.
The number of diseases that mosquitos can spread and their impact on human safety is both impressive and alarming. Some of the most serious mosquito-born diseases include viral diseases such as dengue fever, West Nile virus, Eastern equine encephalitis virus and yellow fever, as well as malaria, which is caused by a parasite.
7 Major Diseases Transmitted by Mosquitos
1) Dengue fever (viral)
2) West Nile virus (viral)
3) Eastern equine encephalitis virus (viral)
4) Yellow fever (viral)
5) Malaria (parasitic)
6) Lymphatic filariasis (parasitic)
7) Tularemia (bacterial)
The fact that there are seven different diseases spread by mosquitos is bad enough, but it gets even worse. A close look at the list above indicates that the pesky mosquito spreads viral, parasitic and bacterial based diseases. If mankind has major enemies one of them is clearly the busy and buzzing mosquito.
More Bad News about Mosquitos
The statics regarding illness and death regarding mosquitos is more than alarming; it is depressing. Statistics vary, but experts have concluded that every year 700 million people become ill from mosquito born diseases. Over 2 million people die as a result of mosquitos every year! Quite stunningly, this means that a truly incredible 20 million people may have died from mosquitos born diseases in just the last decade! Worse still, the numbers of dead every year may be even higher.
Let’s Put Mosquito Control Into Perspective
The estimates for the number of military and civilian deaths in World War I is approximately 16 million, with about 7 million of those deaths being civilian deaths. In the last decade, mosquito born diseases have killed three times as many civilians as World War I! The number of military and civilian deaths for World War II is estimated to be at about 60 million people. At the current rates, mosquito born diseases will kill as many people as World War II over a thirty year period or less.
The good news is that many scientists are working on ways to help reduce the impact that mosquitos are having on global human health. For example, some researchers have found that if mosquitos become infected by a certain bacteria, they can no longer transmit disease. Mosquito control and treatment is becoming a high priority in the world of global health issues.
There can be no doubt that mosquito borne diseases are one of the most important human health issues in history. These plagues vary from malaria to yellow fever, and the number of people sickened by these diseases every year is truly remarkable. While some pests are just pests, the very ubiquitous and very busy mosquito is less of a pest and much more of a menace.