Study: Poorer Baltimore Neighborhoods Have Larger, Potentially Deadlier Mosquitoes

As if the economic restraints from a life in poverty aren’t crippling enough, a new study finds that low-income urban neighborhoods in Baltimore not only have more mosquitoes, but they’re notably larger in size. Such a difference indicates a higher risk of transmitting diseases.

Researchers at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York have been using Baltimore as a testing grounds to study how environmental and social conditions affect the number of disease-carrying mosquitoes. They focused in particular on one species, the tiger mosquito, an invasive species which are especially plentiful in urban areas. They’re known to be aggressive day-biters and have been known to transmit several types of viruses, including Zika, dengue fever, chikungunya, Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), and West Nile virus.

“More people are living in cities. At the same time, many other species are also adapting to city living,” says senior author and Cary Institute disease ecologist Shannon LaDeau in a statement. “Invasive species like the tiger mosquito increasingly thrive in temperate urban areas, living among us and fundamentally altering the risk of local disease emergence. ”

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