Can Mosquitoes Die From Aids?
WouterDespite the claims of the federal government, there is no evidence that mosquitoes can transmit AIDS. A few studies have been conducted in the United States, and abroad, but no case has been directly linked to insect transmission.
AIDS requires a complex interaction between a mosquito and a parasite to pass on. A mosquito is not a natural vector, and a human cannot be infected from a bite. The mosquito must feed on a susceptible human before it can transmit.
Biological transmission requires a delay of several days to a week. However, the mosquito does not have the cell receptors necessary to transmit AIDS. The bug does, however, have the biological ability to digest the AIDS virus and kill it.
Mosquitoes are known to carry and spread several diseases, including malaria, dengue fever, Zika, West Nile, and yellow fever. In fact, a large number of people die from AIDS-related complications each year.
Mosquitoes have a unique proboscis that functions as a tube for sucking blood from a human host. In the process, they pass on their saliva. There are six mouthparts, and one of them pierces the skin. The other tube is used to draw blood from the host.
The CDC’s chief of epidemiology, Harold Jaffe, says that mosquitoes are not the natural vectors for AIDS. Instead, sexual contact and the sharing of dirty needles are the most likely causes.
A recent survey of 1500 high school students in the United States showed that one in three thought that mosquitoes could transmit AIDS. According to the CDC, it would take 2,800 mosquito bites to infect an individual. Unlike other insects, mosquitoes do not inject blood back into their hosts.
