World Mosquito Day: Unmasking the Threat and Unveiling Solutions

World Mosquito Day History
Facts about Mosquitos
Importance
Timeline
Statistics that Matter
How to Celebrate Mosquito Day?
World Mosquito Day Dates
FAQs

You might be wondering after looking the title, “world mosquito day” because all of us know that they cause several diseases like malaria and dengue. Even then, this day has been made to be celebrated on every 20th of August to aware people to protect themselves from the painful bites of mosquitos. We cannot say them useless or harmful because everything plays a role to maintain the balance of life on our planet.

World Mosquito Day History

Mosquito day was basically formed by Sir Ronald Ross, who found a connection between the mosquitos (tiny blood-sucking insects) and malaria transmission. This day was declared in 1897 to teach people about the causes of malaria and prevention strategies. Currently, this day is celebrated through parties and exhibitions by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Facts about Mosquitos

Common Name

Scientific Name

Number of Species

Population Size

Lifespan

Weight

Length

Top Speed

Predator

Prey

Most Distinctive Feature

Mosquito

Culicidae

More than 3,500

Around 110 trillion

42 – 60 days (female), 10 days (male)

Around 2.5 mg

3 – 6 mm

1 – 1.5 mph

Birds, bats, spiders, frogs, dragonflies, fish, goldfish, guppies, turtles

Nectar, plant juices, blood (female mosquitoes)

Long, slender proboscis for blood-feeding

Importance

Mosquito day is an awareness campaign to educate people about the causes of malaria and dengue. This day is to honor Sir Ronald Ross (a British army surgeon) who was working in India. He discovered the fact that mosquitoes transmit malaria when he recognized the pigmented malaria parasites in mosquitoes. This impressive discovery has led people to make several preventive measures and medical treatments.

Timeline

1st Century

Europe under threat

Malaria spread all around Europe. It covered all the regions, traveling down the Nile to the Caribbean.

79 CE

So much loss

After the destruction caused by malaria, Rome’s Campagna remained stable upto late 19th century.

1897

Work of Ronald Ross

Spread of malaria came to an end after the discovery of a link between female mosquitoes and malaria transmission by Ronald Ross.

1930s

Effects of Malaria

Before the supply of power, water, and sanitation by Tennessee Valley Authority, Appalachian region of the U.S. got seriously affected by the Malaria.

1946

Creation of MCWA

The CDC was started as the Malaria Control in War Areas (MCWA). Its purpose was to tackle diseases such as malaria to safeguard public health.

Statistics that Matter

There are more than 3,500 species of mosquitoes worldwide
Mosquitoes are deadliest animal, causing malaria, dengue fever, Zika virus, and West Nile virus
Only female mosquitoes bite to develop her egg with blood meals
1 week is sufficient to produce 100s of mosquitos
Mosquitoes are present everywhere on Earth, except in extreme polar regions
Mosquitoes are present from over 200 million years

How to Celebrate Mosquito Day?

Give donations

You can fund some donations to an organization that works to protect people from the diseases caused by mosquitos, such as:

World Health Organization (WHO)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Roll Back Malaria (RBM)
The Global Fund
The American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA)
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health)

Spread awareness

Spend some time in raising awareness about the diseases spread by mosquitos. You can use the social media for this purpose. You can share facts about malaria, causes of malaria and the treatment.

Explore mosquitos

Read some book or any writing that teaches you that how malaria or dengue spread. On world mosquito day, you may discover the ways that how we can stop these diseases to kill human.

World Mosquito Day Dates

Year	Date	Day
2024	August 20	Tuesday
2025	August 20	Wednesday
2026	August 20	Thursday
2027	August 20	Friday
2028	August 20	Sunday

World Elephant Day Dates (theinfox.com)

FAQs

Malaria mosquitoes, especially Anopheles species, bite primarily during the evening and night, between dusk and dawn. We can prevent them by using nets or mosquito killer sprays.

Mosquitos have several habitats, mostly they are found near people. However, a number of mosquitos is present in forests, marshes, or tall grasses. Importantly, all the mosquitoes love to be in water because mosquito larvae and pupae live in the water.

Yes, just a single mosquito bite is sufficient to make a person infected and causing malaria.