A flood of festive season media coverage

Spring is gone and with the arrival of summer comes the mosquitoes. Calls from the media inevitably follow shortly after. I have no doubt many journalists, broadcasters and producers have my name in their diaries, circled brightly in red, on the first day of summer!

It is a fun part of my job to deal with the media. Its more than just getting a chance to talk about mosquitoes and their role in the local environment, it also provides an opportunity to do some important public health communications around the issues of mosquito bite prevention and management of mosquito-borne disease.

Scorchers, sun protection, and buzzing bloodsuckers

What got the ball rolling this year was a joint media briefing arranged by ausSMC. Alongside colleagues talking about heat waves, summer storms, sun protection and bushfire, I shared some tips on protecting yourself from mosquito bites and mosquito-borne disease this summer. It was interesting speaking alongside Professor Sanchia Aranda, CEO of Cancer Council Australia, and comparing the ways we promote safe and effective use of sunscreens and mosquito repellents. This was picked up on in additional media coverage. Overall, there was over 300 local and international articles following this media briefing!

The briefing provided an opportunity to fill a gap in public health communication I’ve identified (and tried to fill) in recent years. Health authorities are pretty good at providing advice on choosing mosquito repellents but less so on using them effectively. Ensuring repellents are actually used effectively is the best way to increase the protection of the community against mosquito-borne disease.

In early December we held our “Sydney Ideas: Mosquitoes in the City” event at Westmead. This was a great opportunity to speak to the community and the well attended event prompted some broader interest in the work of presenters.

It was a pleasure being able to visit the studios of ABC Radio National with Prof Tony Capon, Professor of Planetary Health at the University of Sydney, to discuss with Philip Adams how urbanisation and a changing climate may influence local mosquito populations and mosquito-borne disease risk. I’m working more and more with Tony so nice to share the opportunity to talk about this initiative with him on national radio. You can listen back here. This work is strongly linked to the theme of the “Mosquitoes in the City” event and there is clearly much to learn regarding the place of mosquitoes, wetlands, wildlife and mosquito-borne disease at the fringes of our metropolitan regions under the influence of a changing climate and the ways urban design responds to the threat.

 

Why me? I wish mozzies would bite my friends instead!

There was another boost in interest resulting from a spot on ABC News 24 Weekend Breakfast. The accompanying online article explaining why mosquitoes are more likely to bite some people more than others then sparked considerable interest! What followed was a bunch of radio and television interviews.

There was also a follow up article at News.com.au and this was also picked up on “Kids News” who republished a modified version of the story together with some suggestions for classroom learning exercises. Nice.

There were two different experiences with ABC News. The appearance on Weekend Breakfast was great. I’ve done segments with Andrew Geoghegan and Miriam Corowa before, have always been impressed with their knowledge and interest. I really enjoy the relaxed feel on the show. Was also a pleasure working with Dale Drinkwater, the producer, who put together the segment and accompanying article.

A couple of days later I appeared on News Breakfast with Virginia Trioli. As the program is produced out of Melbourne, I had to do a live cross from the Sydney studios. I always find these interviews a little uncomfortable as I’m tucked away in a small, dark recording booth staring down a camera and hoping my ear piece doesn’t fall out! I’m sure there is an art to these but I’m not sure I’ve mastered that just yet.

Are you a mozzie magnet? There's a reason: https://t.co/phqishya6c pic.twitter.com/e6Yw0sJy5c

— News Breakfast (@BreakfastNews) December 4, 2017

 

Entomologist @Mozziebites explains why some people are "mosquito magnets" pic.twitter.com/HZFr1JFPaa

— ABC News (@abcnews) December 3, 2017

Once the mozzies start biting…

With the warm weather arriving and everyone’s minds turning to summer, there is always a flood of festive season-related media stories. Once the mozzie stories started popping up, many more media outlets starting running segments.

There were also warnings about the health threats of mosquitoes over the festive season from local health authorities.

I had the chance to visit many radio and television studios to conduct interviews, this time it was the first opportunity to visit the Macquarie Radio (home to 2UE and 2GB) for what turned out to be a relatively long (by commercial radio standards) interview with Tim Webster on Talking Lifestyle/2UE including a few callers asking about mosquito repellents, disease risk and what the “purpose” of mosquitoes actually is! Listen back via the Holiday and Home podcast.

Taking talkback can be tricky. I’m fortunate enough to have had an opportunity to do this reasonably routinely. I appreciate the opportunity to get a feel for what the community wants to know about mosquitoes, we should be taking these things into account when designing fact sheets and other communication material. There is no point in simply systematically repeating what has come before.

Live TV can also be tricky. I also had the chance to do segments on Channel Nine’s Today and Today Extra programs. These are always fun and I do find it fascinating to see how the behind-the-scenes production of these shows get put together.

As summer starts to heat up, so too does the swarms of our least favourite insects… Mosquitoes. These creatures leave an unlucky few covered in itchy red bites, while others go unscathed. We asked Dr Cameron Webb to bust some of the common myths for us. @Mozziebites #9Today pic.twitter.com/QexMKSVFfl

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) December 8, 2017

We're being warned a bumper mosquito season could lead to a spike in deadly and debilitating diseases. #9Today pic.twitter.com/kXIj2SWqgn

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) December 17, 2017

Even the local newspaper, the Parramatta Sun, ran a nice story with great shot of me among the mangroves of the Parramatta River. It is also fun dragging photographers out into the wetlands. This time a fun shot of me from a different perspective other than simply standing beside a mosquito trap!

There was certainly plenty of “buzz” (or should that be “hum”) about mosquitoes over recent weeks. Great to see other articles pop up by fellow science communicators as well as the occasionally celebrity. There can never be too many ways to get the message out!

The mosquito coil conversation

At the point where I thought everyone was getting sick of mosquitoes, my latest article on the safe and effective use of mosquito coils was published at The Conversation (as well as being republished by ABC News). To date there have been about 90,000 clicks on the article, highlighting just how interested people are in the topic.

There were a bunch of other interview requests on the back of this including ABC Sydney, ABC Brisbane and ABC Adelaide. You can listen back to my chat with James Valentine on ABC Nationwide Afternoons here.

It isn’t always easy managing media requests

To finish up, I think it is important to share some of the reality of wrangling all these media requests. Most importantly, it takes time. It takes time to prepare and it takes much more time to actually do these activities.

For live television appearances, that often only last a few moments, you’re typically asked to arrive at the studios 30-40min prior to scheduled interview. Notwithstanding the travel time back and forth from studios (often very early in the morning), this means the interruption to the day isn’t insignificant. There was one day that I participated in two different teleconferences while in transit to and between interviews at ABC in Ultimo and Channel Nine in Willoughby!

The other thing is that sometimes you’ll get bumped. I was scheduled to chat on a live television program that requested I bring along a cage of live mosquitoes. This is generally not a problem but it does take time, especially when I have to actually collect field caught mosquitoes especially for this purpose. Unfortunately, the segment got bumped on one day, rescheduled for the next and then bumped again for a second time.

It would be easy to get really upset in these circumstances but it is a reality of dealing with the media. Don’t take it personally as these things are mostly out of your control. If you’re keen to engage with the media, this is just one of the many challenges you’ll need to learn to manage.

Spot any other cool mozzie media things? Join the conversation on Twitter or Facebook!

 

A Guam visit to battle Zika virus and discover new mosquitoes

There are few places on earth where you can search in water-filled canoes for one of the most dangerous mosquitoes on the planet less than a stone’s throw from tourists posing for selfies alongside their inflatable novelty swans in the nearby lagoon.

Guam is the place to go if you need to tick that off your “to do” list!

I was fortunate to be invited to speak at the Pacific Island Health Officers Association (PIHOA) Regional Zika Summit and Vector Control Workshop in Guam 25-29 June 2017. The theme of the summit was “Break Down the Silos for Preparedness and Management of Emergencies and Disasters in United States Affiliated Islands” and had objectives to critical analyze the regional responses to recent mosquito-borne disease outbreaks while developing policies to strengthening public health emergency response and preparedness systems and capabilities within the region.

The tranquil lagoons of the Pacific Islands may seem a very long way from the hustle and bustle of the busy South American cities that held the 2016 Olympics but just as Zika virus was grabbing the attention of sports reporters everywhere, health authorities active in the Pacific were growing concerned too.

The Pacific has been far from free of mosquito-borne disease outbreaks. Previous outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya and even Ross River virus had struck numerous times. While sometimes widespread, at other times outbreaks were more sporadic or isolated. As is the case for many non-endemic countries, outbreaks are prompted by movement of infected travelers and the prevalence of local mosquitoes.

Across the region there are four mosquitoes of primary concern, Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, Aedes polynesiensis and Aedes hensilli. The greatest concerns are associated with Aedes aegypti and in those countries where the mosquito is present, the risks of mosquito-borne disease outbreak are greatest. For this reason alone, it is imperative that good entomological surveillance data is collected to confirm the distribution of these mosquitoes but also to develop strategies to eradicate, where possible, Aedes aegypti should it be introduced to new jurisdictions.

With a growing interest in developing mosquito surveillance and control programs for exotic mosquitoes here in Australia, it was a perfect opportunity for me to get a closer look at how the threats of these mosquitoes and associated outbreaks of disease are managed.

On the third day of the meeting, vector control took centre stage. A brilliant day of talks from each of the jurisdictions on the disease outbreaks they’ve faced and how they’re preparing for future threats. There were presentations from the United States Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) including Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia (Yap, Kosrea, Chuuk, Pohnpei), the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas (CNMI), the Republic of Palau, the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), and American Samoa.

Hearing from these teams doing their best to protect their local communities from the threat of mosquito-borne disease, with only limited resources, was quite eye opening. There was passion and dedication but each territory faced unique challenges to ensure the burden of disease is minimised.

Just outside the workshop venue were a series of water-filled canoes. Most contained larvae!

There is little doubt that climate variability will have a strong role to play in the impacts of mosquito-borne disease across the region in the future but there are so many other issues that could be contributing to increased risk too. One of the biggest problems is rubbish.

Time and time again, the issue of accumulated waste, especially car bodies and discarded tyres, was raised as a major problem. As many of the key pest mosquitoes love these objects that trap water, treatment of these increasing stockpiles becomes more of a concern. Community wide cleanups can help reduce the sources of many mosquitoes but the rubbish more often than not remains on the island and requires continued management to ensure is not becoming a home to millions of mosquitoes.

It is a reminder that successful mosquito control relies on much more than just insecticides. An integrated approach is critical.

There was a “hands on” session of surveillance and control. Coordinated by PIHOA’s Eileen Jefferies and Elodie Vajda, the workshop was a great success. It provided an opportunity for many to see how to prepare ovitraps and BGS traps (one of the most widely used mosquito traps) and discuss the various considerations for choosing and using the right insecticides to reduce mosquito-borne disease risk. Workshop attendees were also the luck recipients of a selection of cleaver public awareness material produced in Guam, from personal fans and anatomically incorrect plush mosquitoes to Frisbees and mosquito-themes Pokemon cards!

Guam “mozzie” team: Elodie Vajda, Claire Baradi, Michelle Lastimoza, Eileen Jefferies and me

Following the summit, there was a chance to visit the new Guam “Mosquito Laboratory”, newly established as part of the Guam Environmental Public Health Laboratory (GEPHL). I’ll go out of my way to visit any mosquito laboratory but I was particularly keen to see this one as one of my previous students was playing a key role in establishing the mosquito rearing and identification laboratories. Elodie has been doing an amazing job and it was brilliant to geek out with her over some hard core mosquito taxomony as we tried to ID a couple of tricky specimens. [Make sure you check out our recent paper on the potential impact of climate change on malaria outbreaks in Ethiopia]

It actually turned out that one of their “tricky specimens” was a new species record for Guam – an exotic mosquito Wyeomyia mitchellii! The paper reporting this finding has just been published “New Record of Wyeomyia mitchellii (Diptera: Culicidae) on Guam, United States“.

Mosquito-borne disease in the Pacific isn’t going anywhere and it’s important that once the focus fades from Zika virus, dengue and chikungunya viruses will again take centre stage and their potential impacts are significant. With the added risks that come with gaps in the understanding of local pest and vector species, the prevalence of insecticide resistance among local mosquitoes, climate variability and a struggle to secure adequate funding, challenges lay ahead in ensuring the burden of mosquito-borne disease doesn’t increase.

A modified version of this article appears in the latest issue (Winter 2017; 12(1)) of Mosquito Bites Magazine, (a publication of the Mosquito Control Association of Australia)

 

Preserve and protect? Exploring mosquito communities in urban mangroves

This is a special guest post from Dr Suzi Claflin. Suzi found herself in Sydney, Australia, (via Cornell University, USA) in 2015 to undertake a research project investigating the role of urban landscapes in determining mosquito communities associated with urban mangroves. She was kind enough to put this post together to celebrate the publication of our research in Wetlands Ecology and Management!

**

Sometimes you’ve got to make hard choices for the greater good. These situations can arise anywhere, but here – as usual – we are concerned with mosquitoes. There’s a balancing act carried out by public health officials and wetland managers trying to both preserve endangered habitat and protect human health. In this guest post, I’ll explain the science behind research I recently published in collaboration with Dr Cameron Webb, and suggest one way forward for addressing human and environmental health concerns in urban wetlands.

During my PhD, I studied how the landscape surrounding small-scale farms affects the spread of a crop virus and the community of insect pests that carry it. When I came to Australia to work with Cameron, I was surprised to find myself applying the same type of landscape ecology to mosquitoes and mangroves in urban Sydney.

The misfortune of mangroves

Mangroves are real team players. They provide a range of services to the surrounding ecosystem and to the humans lucky enough to live near them. Mangroves are extremely effective at protecting the shoreline (but this can sometimes be a problem). They prevent erosion by gripping the soil in their complex root systems and buffer the beach by serving as a wave break. By filtering sediment out of the water that flows over them, mangroves also prevent their neighbouring ecosystems, such as coral reefs and seagrass forests, from being smothered.

Despite all their good work, mangroves have an almost fatal flaw; they prefer waterfront property. Unfortunately for them, so do humans. Urban and agricultural development has eaten away at mangroves, leaving them highly endangered.

The mosquito menace

Mozzies are a public health menace, because they spread human diseases like Ross River virus (RRV). Because of this, public health officials rightly spend time considering how to supress mosquito populations in order to reduce the risk of disease transmission.

Here’s where things get tricky: mangroves are great for mosquitoes.

That leaves public health officials and wetland managers in a difficult position. On the one hand, mangroves are delicate, at-risk ecosystems that need to be preserved. On the other, mangroves and surrounding habitats potentially harbor both the animal carriers of the RRV (e.g. wallabies) and a load of mosquitoes, which means that people nearby may need to be protected.

How can we do both?

 

Dr Suzi Claflin trapping mosquitoes in the mangroves along the Parramatta River, Sydney, Australia.

 

The potential power of prediction

This is a hard question to answer. One approach is prediction: using measurements of the environment, like rainfall and tide level, to estimate what the mosquito community will look like in a given region. The mosquito community determines what management actions, like spraying an insecticide, need to be taken, based on the threat it poses to public health.

We set out to explore how the way we use land (e.g. for residential areas or industrial areas) near urban mangroves affects the mosquito communities that live in those mangroves. The project involved dropping over retaining walls, slipping down banks, and tromping through muddy mangroves along the Parramatta River in Sydney. We set mosquito traps (billy cans of dry ice with a container on the bottom) and left them overnight to capture the mozzies when they are most active. We did this at two points in the summer, to see if there was any change over time.

We found that yes, the way we use land around a mangrove makes a difference. Mangroves with greater amounts of bushland and residential land in the surrounding area had fewer mosquitos, and fewer species of mosquitos. On the other hand, mangroves with greater amounts of industrial land surrounding them had a greater number of mosquito species, and those surrounded by greater amounts of mangrove had more mosquitos.

And, just to muddy the waters a bit more (pun intended), several of these relationships changed over time. These results show that although prediction based on the surrounding environment is a powerful technique for mangrove management, it is more complicated than we thought.

Another way forward: site-specific assessments

Our work suggests another way forward: site-specific assessments, measuring the mosquito community at a particular site in order to determine what management approaches need to be used. This is a daunting task; it requires a fair number of man-hours, and mangroves are not exactly an easy place to work. But it would be time well spent.

By assessing a site individually, managers can be confident that they are taking the best possible action for both the mangroves and the people nearby. It turns out that the best tool we have for striking a balance between environmental and public health concerns, the best tool we have for preserving and protecting, is information. In mangrove management—as in everything—knowledge is power.

Check out the abstract for our paper, Surrounding land use significantly influences adult mosquito abundance and species richness in urban mangroves, and follow the link to download from the journal, Wetlands Ecology and Management:

Mangroves harbor mosquitoes capable of transmitting human pathogens; consequently, urban mangrove management must strike a balance between conservation and minimizing public health risks. Land use may play a key role in shaping the mosquito community within urban mangroves through either species spillover or altering the abundance of mosquitoes associated with the mangrove. In this study, we explore the impact of land use within 500 m of urban mangroves on the abundance and diversity of adult mosquito populations. Carbon dioxide baited traps were used to sample host-seeking female mosquitoes around nine mangrove forest sites along the Parramatta River, Sydney, Australia. Specimens were identified to species and for each site, mosquito species abundance, species richness and diversity were calculated and were analyzed in linear mixed effects models. We found that the percentage of residential land and bushland in the surrounding area had a negative effect on mosquito abundance and species richness. Conversely, the amount of mangrove had a significant positive effect on mosquito abundance, and the amount of industrial land had a significant positive effect on species richness. These results demonstrate the need for site-specific investigations of mosquito communities associated with specific habitat types and the importance of considering surrounding land use in moderating local mosquito communities. A greater understanding of local land use and its influence on mosquito habitats could add substantially to the predictive power of disease risk models and assist local authorities develop policies for urban development and wetland rehabilitation.

Dr Suzi Claflin completed her PhD at Cornell University exploring environmental factors driving the spread of an aphid-borne potato virus on small-scale farms. She is now a postdoctoral research fellow at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research in Hobart, TAS. In her spare time she runs her own blog, Direct Transmission, focusing on disease and other public health issues (check it out here). To learn more about her doctoral research, follow this link!

Could a mosquito bite make you a Jedi?

On the eve of the release of Star Wars The Force Awakens, I’ve been revisiting bits and pieces of the previous six Star Wars movies. You know what stands out? I’ve been thinking about the possibility that wielding “The Force” may just be a symptom of parasitic infection!

Growing up with the original trilogy of Star Wars films, my perspective on “The Force” was entirely defined by Obi-Wan Kenobi’s explanation to Luke in A New Hope, “The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.”

I always thought of it as more a spiritual, rather than a scientific, thing. If I thought about it really hard, I could snatch that tv remote into my hand from across the room. Apparently it doesn’t quite work that way. I’d need to be infected with a parasitic pathogen. Midi-chlorians.

Midi-chlorians were explained to a young Anakin Skywalker by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace as “Midi-chlorians are a microcopic lifeform that reside within all living cells and communicates with the Force. We are symbionts with the midi-chlorians. Life forms living together for mutual advantage. Without the midi-chlorians, life could not exist, and we would have no knowledge of the Force. They continually speak to you, telling you the will of the Force.”

So, these intracellular microbes speak to us? Do they control the host? Are Jedi just doing the dirty work of midi-chlorians? I know midi-chlorians have sparked a sea of frustration among some Star Wars fans but lets just assume for a moment that the only reason Force users can do what they do is because they’re infected with special strains of these parasites.

How many times have you imagined you could snatch the remote from coffee table through nothing more than concentrated thought alone?

Can pathogens and parasites control their hosts?

We know that in a galaxy not so far away and not so long ago, parasites have been described that alter the behaviour of their hosts. See here  and here and here. From mind-controlling fungi to parasites that break down your fear of predators there are plenty of examples of how parasites change the behaviour of hosts to their own benefits.

There are insect symbiotes and mostly they’re beneficial. But when it comes to mosquitoes, microbes including viruses, bacteria, fungi and protozoa can influence their role in disease outbreaks.

Viruses, such as dengue, may even influence the behaviour of mosquitoes to increase the chances of their transmission to new hosts. Infection with a virus may also change the way mosquitoes respond to insect repellents. But when some mosquitoes are infected with an intracellular bacteria, a bacteria that’s not naturally found in this mosquito, their ability to transmit dengue viruses is blocked. It can also disrupt their blood feeding and reduce their lifespan.

Now, if mosquitoes are capable of transmitting blood-borne pathogens, could they also transmit midi-chlorians? If a mosquito bites you after its taken a blood meal from Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi or Luke Skywalker, could you start using the force? Is the ability to use the force a symptom of vector-borne disease?

Itchy yet? Dozens of mosquitoes drinking in a mosquito researcher’s blood! (Image: Alex Wild)

Are there Medical Entomologists in the Star Wars universe?

I don’t know how many medical entomologists will be featured in The Force Awakens. According to Wookiepedia there are mosquitoes (or at least mosquito-like insects called Msqitoes) in the Star Wars universe but how would you go about working out if theses or any other blood feeding arthropods could transmit midi-chlorians between Jedi and us normal non-Jedi folk?

When investigating outbreaks of suspected mosquito-borne disease, there is a number of things to consider. Are there clusters of cases that may suggest localised exposure to mosquitoes? If there is widespread disease with little or no link to environments associated with mosquitoes, it is usually enough to suggest the pathway of pathogen transmission doesn’t include mosquitoes. But where there is evidence to suggest mosquitoes are playing a role, where to next?

Collecting and testing field collected specimens can provide some evidence. There are mosquito-borne pathogen surveillance programs in many parts of the world. They rely on collecting and testing adult mosquitoes but can also involve taking blood from wild or domestic birds to determine the circulation of mosquito-borne pathogens in the environment. However, just because a mosquito tests positive to a pathogen, it doesn’t mean it is spreading it to people.

There are thousands of mosquito species worldwide but relatively few effectively transmit mosquito-borne pathogens. For example, in Australia around 40 mosquitoes have been implicated in the transmission of Ross River virus but only one mosquito can transmit dengue viruses. Unless there is a specific relationship between the pathogen and the mosquito, the pathogen wont be transmitted.

Complex path of pathogens from host blood to mozzie spit

Mosquitoes aren’t like dirty syringes. They don’t transfer infected droplets of blood between people. Mosquitoes must become infected with the pathogen before it can then pass it on. Taking a virus as an example, the virus must be ingested by the mosquito together with a blood meal from an animal and then the virus must pass into and out of the cells lining the insect’s gut before spreading throughout the body of the mosquito. Once the salivary glands are infected (a process that takes about a week), the virus is passed on through the spit of the mosquito when it next bites (when feeding on an animal, a mosquito will inject some saliva to get the blood flowing).

Not all mosquitoes can transmit all mosquito-borne pathogens. Mosquitoes cannot transmit non-mosquito-borne pathogens. That’s why mosquitoes don’t spread Ebola virus.

For a mosquito researcher, surely Dagobah is top of the list of fantasy field trip destinations! There has to be plenty of mozzies on this swamp covered planet! (Image: Star Wars)

How would you test the ability of mosquitoes to transmit midi-chlorians?

Firstly you need some blood feeding mosquitoes. If there was anywhere in the Star Wars universe where mosquitoes could be found, surely it is Dagobah. The whole planet is essentially covered in wetlands. Once you’ve got the mosquitoes, now all you need is some midi-chlorian-filled blood.

Expose caged mosquitoes to a mix of blood and midi-chlorians (or ask a Jedi to kindly volunteer their arm). For those mosquitoes that feed, they can be put aside and kept alive for as long as possible. Every few days, mosquitoes are removed and tested for infection. Legs and wings can be removed from the mosquito and tested separately from the body. If they’re positive, it indicates the virus has spread through the body of the mosquito.

Next, the proboscis of the mosquito can be inserted into a micro-capillary tube filled with growth media. Once inserted into the liquid, the mosquito will instinctively feed and expectorate saliva. The saliva and growth media mix can then be tested for the presence of virus. If this mix is positive, it indicates the mosquito is transmitting the pathogen.

Known as “vector competence” experiments, studies investigating the ability of different mosquito species to transmit different pathogens help build up a profile of each mosquito and its potential role in the spread of local and exotic mosquito-borne pathogens.

Studies of this nature have been conducted for many, many mosquito species worldwide and many, many different pathogens. Here is a recent example of a study conducted to determine how the transmission of a strain of West Nile virus by mosquitoes influenced an outbreak of mosquito-borne disease in horses.

Things can start to get a little more complicated when you take into account the interaction between the host (e.g. an animal) and the pathogen, the level of viremia that may develop and the propensity of the mosquito to bite people. For example, some mosquito species may be very susceptible to infection and effective at transmitting a pathogen but if those mosquitoes prefer to only feed on birds, the risk to people are generally much lower.

The take home message from all these studies is that the interactions between pathogens, mosquitoes and the animals and people carrying the pathogens are complex. When assessing the risk of mosquito-borne disease outbreak, designing more effective mosquito-borne pathogen surveillance programs or developing strategic public health responses, it is critical to understand the ability of local mosquitoes to transmit pathogens.

In theory, a mosquito taking a blood meal from a Jedi whose blood contains a high concentration of midi-chlorians could potentially pass on some Force-inducing infections to other people. Makes you wonder why Yoda was hanging out in a swamp planet?

Disclaimer: There is little doubt the issue of midi-chlorians has been discussed, dissected and the implications for the ability to wield the force determined within Star Wars Expanded Universe/Legends literature. I know I’ve taken a little artistic license here but if you’re a Star Wars aficionado, please take this article for what it is, a fun way to communicate the science behind mosquito and mosquito-borne disease research.

Why not join the conversation on Twitter?

I’ll leave you with this great CDC video on immunization.

UPDATE! [9 January 2016] So, it seems that not only do mosquitoes potentially help make Jedi in the Star Wars universe but, as the The Force Awakens demonstrates, mosquito-inspired aliens are out and about in the bars and cantinas of the galaxy! Just in the remote chance you haven’t seen the movie, I won’t describe when and where these creatures pop up but they’re known as the “Dengue Sisters” and represent a sentient species of small insectoids known as Culisetto. They look pretty awesome (see photo below from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary” by Pablo Hidalgo)

Dengue Sisters from Star Wars: The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary (Thanks Cybergosh for the tip off)!

Perhaps I need to petition Hasbro to create a “Dengue Sister” action figure!