NASHVILLE, Tenn.óThe record setting rains hitting much of the country this spring could lead to a bumper crop of mosquitoes. Some of those mosquitoes carry West Nile Virus, a disease that resulted in more than 280 deaths in this country last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Vanderbilt University researcher Larry Zwiebel, assistant professor of biological sciences, says West Nile virus is an emerging public health threat, but he warns that a much more dangerous mosquito-transmitted disease, dengue, is heading our way.
"Most people who do get West Nile virus have only flu-like symptoms," Zwiebel said. "It’s the very old, very young and people with compromised immune systems that are primarily at risk," he added. Zwiebel says a bigger public health threat is moving closer to the United States: dengue and its mosquito-transmitted hemorrhagic fever that can result in excessive bleeding. "Dengue is well established in Mexico now, and it could hit this country in the next five years, creating a serious public health issue," Zwiebel said.
Zwiebel is part of a team of researchers that completed the genome of the mosquito that transmits malaria: Anopheles gambiae. Zwiebel’s research focused on the mosquito’s sensory systems and found 79 genes involved in a mosquito’s sense of smell and 72 in its sense of taste. Mosquitoes’ sense of smell and taste play a major role in the insects’ attraction for people. Zwiebel hopes to develop a new kind of mosquito repellantóa smart bomb or sprayóthat impedes the mosquito’s sense of smell but is safe for the environment and other beneficial insects. Zwiebel is also studying the receptors that play a key role in the sensory systems of mosquitoes that transmit West Nile, malaria and dengue. For more information on Zwiebel’s research, go to Vanderbilt’s Exploration (science news) website at http://exploration.vanderbilt.edu/news/features/mosquito2/news_mosquito2.htm Media contact: Emily Pearce, (615) 322-News emily.pearce@vanderbilt.edu