research - justin (how climate affects the breeding of mosquitoes)

Mosquitoes transmit dengue viruses. The virus replicates in the mosquito, this process takes one to two weeks from the time a mosquito imbibes infected human blood until the virus reaches the salivary gland of the mosquito and replicates to titer high enough to be transmitted. This incubation period in the mosquito is shorter if the ambient temperature is warmer. This is found most in mosquitoes that live near human dwellings, in flowerpots, water storage jars, cisterns, metal cans, discarded tires, and any other fresh water containers that people leave standing. The mosquito does not survive freezing weather and, thus, is primarily a tropical vector. One description of a dengue epidemic is that of Benjamin Rush in Philadelphia in 1780. The mosquito and dengue virus were imported to Philadelphia during the summer, but the mosquito did not live over the winter and the disease disappeared. The mosquito lives in the tropics wherever people live. The mosquito thrives in areas of high rainfall, but it also paradoxically thrives in desert areas because people often provide water containers for breeding. Mosquitoes cannot stand freezing weather, thus, it is limited to tropical and subtropical regions. Global warming is said tt oaffect regions in the tropics and has a greater effect at night. All these conditions are favourable for the mosquitoes as their breeding rate is always increasing. The risk of dengue outbreak is enhacned by two factors. Firstly, dengue multiplies more in high temperatures than in low ones. Secondly, the mosquito also grows rapidly in high temperatures than in low ones. This combination is condusive to a very short incubation period in the mosquito and rapid mosquito population increase. A short incubation in the mosquito along with rapid population increase inturn can lead to more rapid, and sometimes explosice transmissions in the human population. This prediction, however, should be accompanied by a caution. Warmer temperaturesalso leads to a shorter life span of the mosquito, and shorter life means less time to transmit the virus to another person.