![]() ![]() Everything we’re doing as we alter our world puts us more at risk: They breed in the plastic waste we discard they thrive in urban environments, and they like it hot. ![]() These mosquito vectors spread a lot of diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, Zika virus, and yellow fever. What worries you most about mosquito-borne diseases in light of rising temperatures and environmental changes? Mordecai joined Desiree LaBeaud, professor of pediatrics at Stanford Medicine, Joelle Rosser, an infectious disease instructor, and Eloise Skinner, a senior scientist in the Mordecai Lab, to speak with the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health about how the burden of mosquito-borne disease is shifting, and how communities can prepare.ġ. Educating communities and health providers about the differences between these various mosquitoes on the move is critical to protecting public health, they say. Mordecai is among several Stanford experts who are leading efforts to understand how climate change is impacting the spread of various mosquito vectors and the deadly diseases they carry – and how to respond. “Often people think that all mosquitoes are the same, or that all mosquitoes can transmit the same diseases, but in fact mosquitoes differ in their ecologies and their ability to transmit different pathogens, resulting in differences in how we prevent and mitigate disease transmission,” said Erin Mordecai, associate professor of biology in the School of Humanities and Sciences. With deadly outbreaks from Bangladesh to Peru and record numbers of cases in Europe, the World Health Organization officials this July warned that climate change could push dengue cases to near-record numbers. But dengue fever has dominated global headlines, with outbreaks unprecedented in their locations, severity, and duration. This year, locally transmitted malaria cases cropped up in Florida and Texas for the first time in 20 years. Warmer temperatures, changes in rainfall, and human activity are enabling their spread to new places often unprepared to deal with them. The changing climate is dramatically altering the landscape of mosquito-borne diseases. This July, the World Health Organization warned that climate change could push dengue cases to near-record numbers. This photograph depicts a female Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is the primary vector for the spread of Dengue fever.
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