Mosquitoes pose a growing threat to public health, reversing years of progress
Along hundreds of miles of the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, a squadron of young scientists and an army of volunteers wage all-out war against a creature that threatens the health of more people that no other exists on earth: the mosquito.
They test new insecticides and new ingenious ways of administering them. At night, they look out the windows, watching for mosquitoes that attack sleeping people. They collect blood – from babies, from motorcycle taxi drivers, from goat herders and their goats – to track parasites carried by mosquitoes.
But Eric Ochomo, the entomologist leading this effort on the front lines of global public health, recently stood in the marshy grass, laptop in hand, and recognized a grim reality: " It seems that the mosquitoes are winning."
Less than ten years ago, it was humans who seemed to have gained the upper hand in the fight - which was even more old of a century – against the mosquito. But in recent years, this progress has not only stalled, but even reversed.
Insecticides used since the 1970s to spray in homes and on mosquito nets to protect sleeping children have become much less effective; mosquitoes have evolved to survive them. After reaching a historic low in 2015, malaria cases and deaths are increasing.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet Small insect, giant threatThe fight against mosquitoes has never been more urgent. Scientists are urgently searching for weapons.
Along hundreds of miles of the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, a squadron of young scientists and an army of volunteers wage all-out war against a creature that threatens the health of more people that no other exists on earth: the mosquito.
They test new insecticides and new ingenious ways of administering them. At night, they look out the windows, watching for mosquitoes that attack sleeping people. They collect blood – from babies, from motorcycle taxi drivers, from goat herders and their goats – to track parasites carried by mosquitoes.
But Eric Ochomo, the entomologist leading this effort on the front lines of global public health, recently stood in the marshy grass, laptop in hand, and recognized a grim reality: " It seems that the mosquitoes are winning."
Less than ten years ago, it was humans who seemed to have gained the upper hand in the fight - which was even more old of a century – against the mosquito. But in recent years, this progress has not only stalled, but even reversed.
Insecticides used since the 1970s to spray in homes and on mosquito nets to protect sleeping children have become much less effective; mosquitoes have evolved to survive them. After reaching a historic low in 2015, malaria cases and deaths are increasing.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet Small insect, giant threatThe fight against mosquitoes has never been more urgent. Scientists are urgently searching for weapons.
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