A new study oddly posits that mosquitoes are actually attracted to people who already have malaria. Scientists from the University of Pierre and Marie Curie ran a study in Kenya where odors from children infected with the transmissible stage of the disease were wafted toward mosquitoes. Twice as many mosquitoes targeted those children than went after the kids who were healthy or weren’t in the transmissible stage. The weirdest thing is that the parasite itself appears to be orchestrating the phenomenon. From New Scientist:
“What’s surprising is that this is not to the advantage of anybody but the parasite,” says Jo Lines of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. “This tremendously important interaction for the person and the mosquito – both can die as a result – is being engineered by the parasite.” But he stresses that scientists need to find out what mechanism is causing the change in odour, before this can be exploited in a practical way.
Link (Thanks, Big Friend Alderman!)