Dengue Virus Makes Mosquitoes Lust For More Blood

Mosquitoes are already blood-sucking machines, but new research indicates that the dengue virus, which the mosquitoes transmit to humans, makes them even thirstier for blood.

The virus specifically turns on mosquito genes that make them hungrier for a blood meal; the activated genes also enhance mosquitoes' sense of smell, something that likely improves their feeding skills. The result is a mosquito better able to serve the virus by carrying it more efficiently to human hosts.

"The virus may, therefore, facilitate the mosquito's host-seeking ability, and could — at least theoretically — increase transmission efficiency, although we don't fully understand the relationships between feeding efficiency and virus transmission," study researcher George Dimopoulus, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a statement. "In other words, a hungrier mosquito with a better ability to sense food is more likely to spread dengue virus."

via LiveScience.com