Aedes Egypti
The main mosquitoes that cause the dengue virus are Aedes Egypti Mosquitos, these typically live 35 degrees north and 35 degrees south of the equator. There are sub-types of this mosquito that can also spread this disease which includes: A. albopictus, A. polynesiensis and A. scutellaris. These mosquitoes also carry yellow fever that is closely related to dengue fever. Female mosquitoes naturally feed off of blood in order to develop and lay eggs, so humans are their main interests, and since they feed off humans, dengue fever transfers from the mosquito to the human. Dengue fever cannot be transmitted from one infected person to another, it can only be given to a person directly from a mosquito.
|
Why does dengue only occur in warm environments?
The virus that causes dengue fever is called arbovirus which is an arthropod-borne virus, and mosquitoes are an arthropod. This virus naturally occurs in warm areas such as the Middle East, the Caribbean and Africa and it consistently lives in these warm areas. Once the mosquito has this virus, it can turn into dengue fever. The disease rarely shows up in the United States.
|