Mosquitoes Drawn to People With Malaria

You may recall that, back in April, I commented on research that demonstrated how parasites can affect the personality of their hosts.

 

Now, New Scientist reports on a new study that indicates that mosquitoes are more likely to be attracted to people already affected with malaria. And it appears that it is the parasite that is causing this, in order to secure its onward transmission to new hosts.

 

Another example of "who’s in the driving seat? – the host or the parasite?" Oh, and I can’t resist a book plug here for Carl Zimmer’s terrific (in all senses of the word) book: Parasite Rex. It is, by turns, amazing, fascinating, chilling, scary and downright horrifying…