Missing Mosquitoes

Tanzanian mosquito populations are declining, and scientists don’t know why.

Written byJef Akst

| 2 min read

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WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CDC

Parts of Africa are seeing an unexplained and dramatic drop in mosquito populations, according to a paper published last month in Malaria Journal. Coincidently, malaria also seems to be on the decline, with reports from Tanzania, Eritrea, Rwanda, Kenya and Zambia all pointing to significant decreases in disease incidence, reports BBC News. At least part of this is likely due to control measures, such as bed nets treated with insecticides, but the new data suggest that other factors may be at play.

For the last decade, Danish and Tanzanian scientists have been monitoring mosquito populations in Tanzania. In 2009, they caught just 14 Anopheles mosquitoes in 2,368 traps, down from more than 5,000 in 2004. And these particular data came from villages that weren’t using ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
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Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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