Aedes aegypti
The Yellow Fever Mosquito
Aedes aegypti, the Yellow Fever mosquito, is one of the mosquitoes that we see on a daily basis here in the Raleigh-Durham area. The other predominant species that we battle here is Aedes albopictus, the Asian Tiger mosquito.
Both Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus can carry and transmit yellow fever.
Luckily, there have been no major outbreaks of yellow fever in the U.S. since the early 20th century. Previous to that, tens of thousands of Americans died of yellow fever, which is an extraordinarily painful way to die.
Aedes aegypti and aedes albopictus also transmit chikungunya virus, which is being increasingly seen in the United States, particularly Florida. Information about chikungunya can be found at https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/306828
An interesting film by PBS that documents the search for the cause of Yellow Fever can be found at https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/fever/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-nk6nJMqYo
Unfortunately the mosquito vector theory of transmission was considered “silly” for two decades, which contributed to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, especially during the building of the Panama Canal. If you are interested, the best book I have read on the Panama Canal is The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough. Mr. McCullough includes several exhaustive chapters on the battle and eventual victory over the mosquito and Yellow Fever in Panama.
Thank you for reading!