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Scientists have identified a new type of mosquito.
It is a subgroup of
Anopheles gambiae,
the insect species responsible for most of the malaria
transmission in Africa.
Researchers
tell Science magazine
that this new mosquito appears to be very susceptible to
the parasite that causes the disease - which raises
concern.
The type may have evaded classification until now
because it rests away from human dwellings where most
scientific collections tend to be made.
Dr Michelle Riehle, from the Pasteur Institute in Paris,
France, and colleagues made their discovery in Burkina
Faso, where they gathered mosquitoes from ponds and
puddles near villages over a period of four years.
When they examined these
insects in the lab, they found many to be genetically
distinct from any
A. gambiae insects
previously recorded.
The team grew generations of the unique subtype in the
lab to assess their susceptibility to the malaria
parasite and this revealed them to be especially
vulnerable, more so than indoor-resting insect types.
But Pasteur team-member Dr Ken Vernick cautioned that
these mosquitoes' significance for malaria transmission
had yet to be established.
"We are in a zone where we need to do some footwork in
the field to identify a means to capture the wild adults
of the outdoor-resting sub-group," he told BBC News.
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