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Most people instantly associate mosquitoes with malaria. But these tiny flying insects can transmit a number of other diseases too.
Viruses transmitted by insects like mosquitoes are called arthropod-borne or arboviruses. Like malaria, these viruses are transmitted to vertebrate hosts through the bite of a female mosquito when she takes a blood meal to assist with her egg development. Most vertebrate hosts for these arboviruses are non-human. They include birds, primates and agricultural animals. But some arboviruses can be transmitted to humans with severe negative outcomes.
Five of the most important arboviruses affecting communities in Africa include the chikungunya, dengue, West Nile, yellow fever and Zika viruses. It is estimated that half of the world’s population is at risk of being infected by an arbovirus.