Malaria Life Cycle Animation: Mosquito Host — HHMI BioInteractive Video
biointeractive・2 minutes read
Mosquitos feed on nectar, but when they bite humans, they can transmit Malaria, with a 10% global infection rate, affecting pregnant women and children the most.
Insights
- Mosquitos primarily feed on nectar, fruit juices, and honeydew, but pregnant mosquitos will bite humans for blood to nourish their eggs, potentially transmitting Malaria if the person is infected, leading to a 10% global infection rate.
- The Malaria parasite in the mosquito's stomach that is deadly to humans cannot survive there and is digested with the mosquito's blood, but transforms into thousands of parasites that infest the mosquito's salivary glands, ready to be transmitted to another human through a bite, posing a significant risk to pregnant women and children under five.
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Recent questions
What do mosquitos primarily feed on?
Nectar, fruit juices, and honey dew.
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Summary
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Mosquitos transmit deadly Malaria to humans
- Mosquitos primarily feed on nectar, fruit juices, and honey dew, but pregnant mosquitos will bite humans for blood to nourish their eggs. If a mosquito drinks blood from a person infected with Malaria, it becomes infected as well. The Malaria parasite in the mosquito's stomach, which is deadly to humans, cannot survive there and is digested with the mosquito's blood. When the warm human blood cools in the mosquito's stomach, the parasite matures into an egg and sperm, which then transform into thousands of parasites that infest the mosquito's salivary glands. When the infected mosquito bites another human, the Malaria parasite is transmitted, leading to a 10% infection rate globally, with pregnant women and children under five being the most vulnerable.
