Why are the Seychelles free of malaria?
Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - 21:30
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Anopheles mosquitoes, which transmit the malaria parasite by their bite are present almost throughout the world. Only five areas are exceptions: Antarctic and Iceland, where there are no mosquitoes at all, New-Caledonia, the Central Pacific islands, like French Polynesia, and the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. New research suggests that the Seychelles have been spared because anopheles mosquitoes require the blood of terrestrial mammals which, apart from bats, are lacking.