⁍ Aedes aegypti is primary spreader of yellow fever, Zika, dengue and Chikungunya.

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⁍ Two factors play a major role: dry climate and city life.

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⁍ Warmer weather means it’s time to be tick aware studied mosquitoes across sub-Saharan Africa.

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– The Aedes aegypti mosquito is responsible for spreading yellow fever, Zika, dengue, and Chikungunya, but a new study suggests it’s far from the only mosquito that likes to bite humans. Researchers studying mosquitoes in sub-Saharan Africa found a “huge diversity in mosquito preferences,” co-author Noah Rose tells CNN. “Some like to bite humans and others don’t like to bite humans at all.” While mosquitoes living in dense cities like Kumasi, Ghana, or Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, showed increased willingness to bite humans, researchers found city life alone didn’t explain the mosquitoes’ evolution. In fact, any mosquitoes living in large cities still preferred to bite animals rather than human hosts. In areas with harsh dry seasons, such as Africa’s Sahel region, extending from Senegal to Sudan and Eritrea, mosquitoes evolved to have a strong preference for humans. “Mosquitoes are dependent on containers of water for their larvae,” Rose says. “So in places with an intense long dry season, mosquitoes become very dependent on humans who store water.” Rose says urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa could lead to even more human-biting mosquitoes in the future.