Overview
- In a study published January 15 in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, identifiable blood meals from mosquitoes captured in protected Rio de Janeiro sites were predominantly human.
- Researchers collected 1,714 mosquitoes across 52 species; of 145 blood-fed females, 24 meals were identified, including 18 humans, six birds, one amphibian, one canid and one mouse.
- Fieldwork at Sítio Recanto Preservar and the Guapiaçu Ecological Reserve used light traps and DNA barcoding to determine host species, revealing some mixed-host meals that included human blood.
- Authors link increased human feeding to deforestation and declining biodiversity in the Atlantic Forest, noting regional circulation of viruses such as yellow fever, dengue, Zika, chikungunya, Mayaro and Sabiá.
- The team stresses limitations from small sample sizes and degraded DNA and calls for larger studies, improved trapping and analysis, targeted surveillance, and ecosystem-aware control strategies.