Celebrating World Mosquito Day

It’s World Mosquito Day! On this day in 1897, British scientist Sir Ronald Ross made the breakthrough discovery that malaria is transmitted between humans by the female anopheles mosquito. More than 100 years later, we are still working to find a cure for this deadly disease.

Malaria hasn’t been an issue in the United States since the 1950’s. Today, mosquitoes are mostly a nuisance. They fly around in silence and bite without warning – often leaving an itchy, annoying bump. Although they can sometimes carry diseases, we don’t live our lives in fear of mosquitoes like the many families in other parts of the world – particularly Sub-Saharan Africa – where a bite can cause malaria illnesses or death.

Thanks to Dr. Ross’ ground-breaking discovery, we know that a bed net is a simple solution to prevent children and families from getting malaria.

This World Mosquito Day, join us in celebrating this important discovery by finishing this sentence and sharing your answers on social media:
–     “I want to help end malaria because … “

Send us your declarations via Twitter using #mosquitoday and we will retweet them.

Let’s work together to spread the buzz about ending malaria!