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Researchers at Rockefeller University in New York found people who have higher levels of certain acids on their skin are 100 times more attractive to the female Aedes aegypti, the type of mosquito responsible for spreading diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika. The findings, published Tuesday in the journal Cell, could lead to new products that could mask or alter certain human odors, making it harder for mosquitoes to find human blood and potentially curbing the spread of disease. SNIP Experts have found people seem to become more attractive to mosquitoes when they're pregnant or after they've...

Genetically modified mosquitoes have been released for the first time in the United States as part of an experiment to combat insect-borne diseases such as Dengue fever, yellow fever, and the Zika virus. UK-based biotechnology firm Oxitec, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said it released the mosquitoes in six locations in Monroe County’s Florida Keys: two on Cudjoe Key, one on Ramrod Key, and three on Vaca Key. It’s part of an effort to help tackle a disease-transmitting invasive mosquito population—the Aedes aegypti mosquito species—that’s responsible for “virtually all mosquito-borne diseases transmitted to humans,” according...

The biotech firm Oxitec has released its genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, with the goal of suppressing wild, disease-carrying mosquito populations in the region. This is the first time genetically modified mosquitoes have been released in the US. Oxitec previously released its modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Brazil, the Cayman Islands, Panama, and Malaysia, and the company reported that local A. aegypti populations fell by at least 90 percent in those locations, Live Science previously reported. A. aegypti can carry diseases such as Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever, and releasing modified mosquitoes offers a way to control...

Areas of Miami, Florida, are now being sprayed with the insecticide naled in an attempt to eradicate the Aedes aegypti mosquito — carrier of the zika virus. Naled, a potent neurotoxin that kills mosquitoes on contact, is perfectly safe, or so the Environmental Protection Agency insists, despite Puerto Rico’s rejection of its use to combat the spread of zika there — due to concerns about its safety. To keep naled airborne where it would be most effective, the agent is sprayed in very fine aerosol droplets — about two tablespoons can be dispersed to cover an area the equivalent of...

Federal health officials today said they believe "thousands" of people may have contracted the Zika virus before returning to the U.S. as they remain concerned that the virus might start to have ongoing transmission in the U.S. Speaking at a panel at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the Zika virus remains "pretty concerning" for experts as they learn how it affects pregnant women. "The reality is one bite, and if you’re pregnant, your baby might be harmed," Schuchat said at the panel today....

The spread of Zika is the price being paid for a massive policy failure on mosquito control, says World Health Organization leader Margaret Chan. Speaking at the agency's annual World Health Assembly, Dr Chan said experts had "dropped the ball" in the 1970s with regards to getting a handle on disease-carrying insects. More than 60 countries and territories now have continuing Zika transmission. Most recently, the infection, spread by mosquito bites, reached Africa. ... Eradication campaigns were successful in the Americas with 18 countries getting rid of the insect by 1962. But insecticide resistance plus a lack of political will...

On 21 January 2016, the National IHR Focal Point of Angola notified WHO of an outbreak of yellow fever (YF). The first case with onset date on 5 December 2015 was identified in Viana municipality, Luanda province. As of 7 April 2016, a total of 1,708 suspected cases, including 238 deaths (CFR: 13.9%), had been reported from 16 of the country’s 18 provinces. >snip< A total of 581 cases have been laboratory confirmed in 59 districts of 12 provinces. >snip< The risk of spread to other provinces and to neighbouring countries remains very high. Transmission of the disease is no...

Millions of genetically modified mosquitoes could be released in the Florida Keys if British researchers win approval to use the bugs against two extremely painful viral diseases. Never before have insects with modified DNA come so close to being set loose in a residential U.S. neighborhood. […] Dengue and chikungunya are growing threats in the U.S., but some people are more frightened at the thought of being bitten by a genetically modified organism. More than 130,000 signed a Change.org petition against the experiment. Even potential boosters say those responsible must do more to show that benefits outweigh the risks. […]...