A description about Aedes aegypti, a primary vector for yellow fever and dengue fever. To know more about the mosquito in general, check out my "Mosquito" slide.

1. Yellow fever mosquito Egyptian tiger mosquito Aedes Aegypti

2. Notes All contents have references listed at the end of this presentation. All images are linked to their original webpage. Some slides have notes for more explanation. Please check at the “Notes” tab below this window (not seen in full screen mode).

3. Aedes aegypti It is a medium-sized black-colored mosquito having a silvery-white “lyre-shaped” pattern on its scutum or shield Like its cousin, Ae. albopictus, it also has banded white stripes on its legs

4. Presence & Activity Originally from Africa, Ae. aegypti is present in most tropical and sub-tropical regions. It is an urban mosquito preferring households living close together. Ae. aegypti never lives more than 90 meters from dwellings. It prefers clean, shady, stagnant water. The mosquito’s lifetime ranges from 8 to 16 days. Dengue cases from mid-August to mid-September 2010

5. Food and Blood Like the albopictus and Anopheles mosquitoes, females need human blood for egg development. Why do female Aedes need blood? A study in 1977 reported that the human blood’s isoleucine is important for egg production. There is a positive correlation between the level of isoleucine in blood and the number of eggs produced.

6. Diseases Ae. aegypti is a biological vector for transmitting: Yellow fever Viral hemorrhagic disease only found in Africa and South America. Chikungunya In the Makonde language, “that leans downward.” Causes illness similar to dengue with prolonged joint pains that can last for years. Present in Africa and Asia. Dengue Fever Aedes is the primary vector Yellow fever virus Dengue virus Chikungunya virus

7. References “Aedes aegypti,” by Wikipedia Dengue Fever from Medic8.com “The Yellow Fever Mosquito” by Dr. Michael Womack “How Mosquitoes Work” by Dr. Craig Freudenrich. “Aedes aegypti and Dengue Fever,” by Roland Mortimer

8. References The Dengue Map by the Centers for Disease Control “The role of isoleucine in differential egg production by the mosquito Aedes aegyptilinnaeus following feeding on human or guinea pig blood” by Chang and Judson, 1976. “Characteristics of the spatial pattern of the dengue vector, Aedes aegypti, in Iquitos, Peru” by Getis, Morrison and Scott, 2003, American Journal of Tropical Medicine. “Why some people attract more mosquitoes than others?” by Zannie10.