The summer sun and heat calls people outside once again. With all the scares of mosquito transmitted diseases, the bug spray is par for the course. Who’s more at risk: city-dwellers or rural lovers?
Research out of Panama suggests those along the main roads — whether they are rural or city dwellers are first choice amongst humans for a meal.
Miller and Loaiza (Miller & Loaiza, 2015) collected surveillance data between 2002 and 2013 and compared these with all 19 of the WorldClim climate layers to ferret out the mosquito’s preferred routes. The climate and population density along the main roads provided easy meals and easy-going travel for the little bugs, so they stuck with it.
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References
Miller, M. J., & Loaiza, J. R. (2015, January 8). Geographic Expansion of the Invasive Mosquito Aedes albopictus across Panama—Implications for Control of Dengue and Chikungunya Viruses. (D. Harley, Ed.), PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Public Library of Science (PLoS). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003383
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