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Dr Nigel Beebe, a senior research fellow at the University of Technology Sydney, discusses the latest research about role the mosquito plays in diseases such as malaria.
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Humans are susceptible to a variety of diseases transmitted by mosquito bites including, malaria, Ross River fever, Dengue fever and several forms of encephalitis. Since developing a malaria vaccine remans elusive, Dr Beebe’s research is concentrating on a new way to break the vector chain – one that relies on genetics. Up until now, the control of malaria has relied on controlling mosquito populations. In Australia’s north, malaria had been around since the Gold Rush of the 1880s and was not eradicated until the 1960s.
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| The main reason for the defeat of malaria was that the northern parts of Australia were not heavily populated. This made the control of human viral reservoirs relatively easy. This was not the case in other parts of the world, so Nigel began looking at other ways to stop the disease. He decided that genetics could be the answer.
Lowlands in PNG - high humidity, plenty of water - great mosquito country
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The identification of mosquitoes is tricky. Two mosquitoes that look alike have been shown to be different species. DNA analysis has helped Nigel isolate the five primary vectors of the region. These different species have different biology and behaviour – right down to the period of the evening when they hunt their blood meals – an important factor in protecting people from being bitten. For example, if species prefer to bite late at night, when most people are in bed then protection is easy using mosquito nets impregnated with insecticides. However with some species, biting happens early in the evening, making protection more complex and there is less chance of the use of preventative measures such as sprays.
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| For an insect with a life cycle of some three weeks, mosquitoes are very adaptive and are continuing to adapt over time. Some only bite humans, some only other animals. While other species, including birds, frogs and lizards, can be infected with forms of malaria, none of these affect humans.
Picture: Adam Hunt
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Nigel hopes that the research will help in the worldwide efforts to control not only malaria, but the emergence of new mosquito transmitted diseases. Once bitten is one bite too many.
Text: V.B. Pictures: Nigel Beebe and Adam Hunt Aug 27 2007
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