Introduction
Mosquitoes are parasites. Parasitism is an association between two organisms such that one organism (the parasite) lives on the body of other organism (the host). The parasites usually derive nutrients and shelter from its host. In this process, it usually does harm to its host.
Since parasites live at the expense of their host, feeding on the host tissues, they tend to cause disease and sometimes death to their hosts. Thus they are called pathogen (disease causing germs). Few more of the examples of the parasites are aphid and hookworm. Hookworm lives in the intestines of their vertebrates. They attach themselves to the intestinal walls and suck blood to obtain nutrients. Aphids are parasites that suck plant juice.
Malarial Pathogen
Malaria is a disease that is endemic in many tropical countries. This means that it is always present till some extent in these countries. It is caused by certain species of Plasmodium. Plasmodium is a parasitic protozoan that spends one part of its life cycle in Man and other part in the female Anopheles mosquito.
Signs and Symptoms of Malaria
Patients suffering from Malaria have intermittent fever which occurs either every 48 hours or 72 hours. The Malarial parasites attack liver cell or red blood cell, the parasites reproduces asexually. Thousand of them are released into bloodstream. The toxin produced by the parasite in the bloodstream causes fever, usually accompanied by chills, shivering and ending in profuse sweating. The patient could become anemic. Death may occur if untreated (Clyde, 1959).
Transmission of the Pathogen
Malaria is treated by female Anopheles mosquito. A vector is an organism that causes disease-causing organisms (pathogens), and, transmits diseases. Female anopheles mosquitoes are vectors of malarial parasites as they may carry and transmit them from an infected person to a healthy person.
