Mosquitoes are vectors of infectious diseases such as malaria, filariasis and dengue virus. Those are transmitted when female mosquitoes take blood meals. Interruption of mosquito-host contact is considered the most desirable method of nuisance reduction and prevention of mosquito-borne diseases. The disruption of host seeking is an important aspect of this strategy. Odors produced by human and animal hosts constitute the principle cues used in host seeking, and differences in host preference between mosquito species are known to be odor based. It was shown that selected odors emanating from secretions of the human body are attractive for malaria mosquitoes. However, the synthetic blend of odors was not as attractive to mosquitoes as the complex mixture. So it is believed that several key components of the attractive odors have not yet been identified. Aim
The proposed research aims to identify the missing attractant compounds of human origin and to initiate the development of an attractive synthetic mixture of chemicals that can mimic human odor and be used as bait in simple mosquito traps |
