Photo Gallery The Deadly Mosquito Invasion
The Aedes aegypti has taken over the crown of the world's most dangerous mosquito from the malaria-carrying Anopheles. The Aedes carries diseases such as dengue fever, yellow fever and Zika. Efforts are underway around the world to protect people from the Aedes aegypti and the diseases it transmits.
Zika has spread across Brazil in recent months, raising fears ahead of the Olympic Games, set to start in two weeks. An increase in the number of microcephaly cases, as seen in this image of a four-month old baby near Recife, Brazil, is apparently linked to the Zika virus.
The Aedes aegypti is one of the world's most dangerous vectors, a term used to describe insects that transmit diseases. The mosquito carries chikungunya, dengue fever, yellow fever and Zika. Here, a man is fumigating against the mosquito in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Concerns of a Zika outbreak are high, with the world now descending on Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic Games, which are set to kick off on August 5. A committee of experts from the World Health Organization recently concluded that the games would have little effect on the spread of the Zika virus.
Still, there are many athletes who are taking no chances. Cyclist Tejay van Garderen, whose wife is expecting their first child, recently announced that he would not be traveling to Rio for the Olympic Games. Golfer Jason Day likewise pulled out.
Aedes aegypti larvae inside an Oxitec laboratory in Campinas, Brazil. Oxitec has designed a genetic mutation passed along by male mosquitoes that causes larvae to die before reaching adulthood. Tests with the genetically modified insects have proven promising.
Norbert Becker, a German biologist, has been battling mosquitoes for the last 40 years. For most of his career, the insects were merely a nuisance, but now, new and dangerous species of mosquitoes are making their way to Germany, including species closely related to the Aedes aegypti.
While a dengue fever vaccine has recently been approved in several countries and research is underway to find a Zika vaccine, such projects are expensive and take time. And the dengue fever vaccine does not offer total protection. Many countries have turned to fumigation instead, such as here in Havana, Cuba.
India, too, is afflicted by diseases carried by the Aedes aegypti, including regular dengue fever outbreaks. Here, a health worker fumigates in Calcutta.
