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Malaria mosquitoes go with the flow

The rapid return of mosquitoes to African semi-desert regions when the dry season ends was an unsolved mystery. A surprising solution to the puzzle is the long-range migration of mosquitoes on high-altitude winds.
  1. Nora J. Besansky

    1. Nora J. Besansky is in the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.

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During the long dry season in the semi-desert region of Africa known as the Sahel, malaria transmission ceases because the mosquitoes that can transmit the disease (termed malaria mosquitoes or vectors) disappear, along with the surface water required for the development of the next generation of mosquitoes. Yet with the first rains that end the dry season, adult numbers surge more quickly than can be explained by resumed breeding in newly rain-filled sites. Evidence to explain this adult population boom has remained elusive for decades. Writing in Nature, Huestis et al.1 report high-altitude sampling of malaria vectors in the Sahel, which revealed data consistent with long-range wind-borne migration of mosquitoes.

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Nature 574, 340-341 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02880-2

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