From Scott Ritchie, Tropical Public Health Unit
Cairns, Queensland
The picture of a bloodsucking mosquito accompanying your article about malaria
(This Week, 28 February, p 15) is eye-catching to the point of
scratching. But New Scientist has missed the itch. The mosquito
pictured is not the dreaded anopheles mosquito, the only group of mosquitoes
responsible for vectoring malaria. It is the equally sinister Aedes
aegypti, carrier of yellow fever and dengue.
Perhaps the slip is fortuitous: dengue has emerged as one of the most
significant tropical diseases, with a pandemic now occurring in the world’s
tropical belt.
