When pondering the world’s deadliest creature, some might picture monstrous animals armed with sharp teeth and claws.
However, size is irrelevant in this case.
With more than one million deaths worldwide each year attributed to mosquito-borne diseases, the mosquito is the deadliest animal on the planet, according to The Mosquito Authority.
This week is the American Mosquito Control Association’s seventeenth annual Mosquito Control Awareness Week.
Local mosquito treatment provider Jim Wood said it is important that people remember mosquitoes are dangerous as well as an annoying pest.
“Mosquitoes are more than just a nuisance,” Wood said in a news release. “It’s easy to forget they carry diseases like West Nile Virus and encephalitis, but the threat is real.”
Mosquitoes can also carry deadly viruses like malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever.
Biology sophomore Anthony Gettys said he understands what makes the tiny pest dangerous but does not make any attempt to protect himself from the tiny angel of death.
“The genes that are passed on through different mosquitoes offspring transfers the diseases and makes them dangerous,” Gettys said. “But honestly, like most people, I don’t do anything at all [to avoid being bit].”
Rebecca Christofferson studies mosquito-borne diseases at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. She said mosquitoes serve as viral-amplification centers for diseases that need the pests to complete their transmission cycles.
“In Baton Rouge and South Louisiana we are particularly worried about West Nile,” Christofferson said. “You can get West Nile and never know you have it, but in certain instances, particularly with the elderly, you get severe neurological symptoms.”
The Mosquito Authority is the largest barrier spray program in the country and has 113 franchises nationwide. Founder Joey Osborne offered the following three tips for preventing a mosquito problem:
- Remove standing water from in and around home
- “Dress and defend,” meaning wear long pants and long sleeves and use bug repellant
- Consider getting a mosquito control treatment
