The Most Common Mosquito-Borne Diseases

West-Nile Virus

The West-Nile Virus is transmitted by mosquitoes of the Culex genus, which is one of the three most common genera in the world. The disease has been reported in western Asia, North America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. The mosquitos pick up the virus from infected birds and transmit it to horses and humans.

While the virus causes no symptoms in about eighty percent of patients, the other twenty percent develop symptoms of a potentially fatal disease of the nervous system. Individuals with weakened immune systems or those over fifty are the most susceptible to the deadly neurological form. Such unfortunates start developing symptoms within three to fourteen days after being bitten, and those symptoms include high fever, stiffened neck, headache, disorientation, tremors, muscle weakness, convulsions, stupor, coma, and paralysis. There is so far no human vaccine.

Dengue Fever

Dengue fever, or simply dengue, is transmitted chiefly by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is found in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Dengue is thus endemic in at least 128 countries, and over 3.9 billion individuals, over half the world’s population, are at risk. A vaccine for individuals between nine and forty-five living in endemic areas was introduced in late 2015.

Dengue causes symptoms similar to those seen in the flu, such as high fever, swollen glands, nausea, vomiting, and pain behind the eyes. Most develop symptoms four to ten days after being bitten. About three to seven days after being bitten, some individuals develop a condition called severe dengue or dengue hemorrhagic fever. While the patient’s fever drops a little, they produce other symptoms like persistent vomiting, severe stomach pains, bleeding gums, blood in their vomit, rapid breathing, restlessness, and fatigue. Without medical care, the patient can die in one or two days.