– Why should we not constantly be worried about mosquitoes carrying diseases?

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How can we be so certain that diseases-carrying mosquitoes are bound to certain places and won’t cause a mass epidemic? How about people that come and go from countries stricken by malaria, dengue fever, etc.? Don’t they risk becoming infected and bringing the disease overseas worth them?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Take a look at [this map](https://apps.who.int/malaria/maps/threats/#/maps?theme=prevention&mapType=prevention%3A0&bounds=%5B%5B9.845902666780262%2C27.71913582964153%5D%2C%5B43.01310477155744%2C61.41787666916832%5D%5D&insecticideClass=PYRETHROIDS&insecticideTypes=&assayTypes=MOLECULAR_ASSAY%2CBIOCHEMICAL_ASSAY%2CSYNERGIST-INSECTICIDE_BIOASSAY&synergistTypes=&species=&vectorSpecies=&surveyTypes=&mmType=1&excludeLowerPatients=false&excludeLowerSamples=false&endemicity=false&storyMode=false&storyModeStep=0&years=2010%2C2023) showing malaria risk around the world. Notice how the risk of malara pretty much disappears above and below a certain latitude? North and south of these regions, the temperatures are too low for mosquitoes to survive year-round or for malaria to complete its lifecycle. As a result, there isn’t much opportunity for viruses like malaria to be passed from generation to generation.

Viruses like West Nile Virus are a little different, because they can pass from mosquitoes to birds then back to mosquitoes, but this risk is not as high for diseases like malaria or dengue.

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