World Mosquito Day,

observed Observation in the natural sciences is an act or instance of noticing or perceiving and the acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the perception ...

annually on

20 August Events Pre-1600 *AD 14 – Agrippa Postumus, maternal grandson of the late Roman emperor Augustus, is mysteriously executed by his guards while in exile. * 636 – Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take contro ...

, is a commemoration of British doctor

Sir Ronald Ross Sir Ronald Ross (13 May 1857 – 16 September 1932) was a British medical doctor who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on the transmission of malaria, becoming the first British Nobel laureate, and the f ...

's discovery in 1897 that female

anopheline ''Anopheles'' () is a genus of mosquito first described by the German entomologist J. W. Meigen in 1818, and are known as nail mosquitoes and marsh mosquitoes. Many such mosquitoes are vectors of the parasite ''Plasmodium'', a genus of protoz ...

mosquitoes Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by '' mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, ...

transmit

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

between humans. Prior to the discovery of the transmitting organism, vector, there were few means for controlling the spread of the disease although the discovery of quinine in treatment had alleviated the problem of treatment. According to one survey, nearly half the world population was at significant risk from malaria in the 19th century with a 10% mortality among those infected. Ross had already conducted experiments with ''Culex'' (possibly ''C. fatigans'') fed on birds infected with bird malaria ''Protesoma relictum'' (now ''Plasmodium relictum'') in 1894 and noted that they developed in mosquito gut and had surmised that the same may happen in malaria. The discovery was made in a small laboratory in

Begumpet Begumpet ("Begum's Place") is an upscale locality of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Begumpet is named after the daughter of the sixth Nizam (Mahbub Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI), Basheer Unnisa Begum, who received it as part of her wedding dowry when ...

area of

Secunderabad Secunderabad () is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

. Today the laboratory is known as the

Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Parasitology Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Parasitology is a malaria research institute located in Begumpet, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, India. Established in 1955, the institute is a division of Osmania University. The institute is named after Sir Ronald Ross, ...

and houses a small museum on Ross and his

research. Ross had noted the day of the discovery made in

(printed incorrectly as 1895, but definitely 1897 based on his postings). The

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The institu ...

holds Mosquito Day celebrations every year, including events such as parties and exhibitions, a tradition dating back to as early as the 1930s.

References

External links

World Mosquito Day

World Mosquito Day News

World Mosquito Day - 2017
August observances Insects in culture Flies and humans {{festival-stub

See also

References

External links