2006 Prof. Frank Hadley Collins, Dir., Cntr. for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, Univ. of Notre Dame This 2006 photograph depicted a female <i>Aedes aegypti</i> mosquito while she was in the process of acquiring a blood meal from her human host, who in this instance, was actually the biomedical photographer, James Gathany, here at the Centers for Disease Control. You’ll note the feeding apparatus consisting of a sharp, orange-colored “fascicle”, which while not feeding, is covered in a soft, pliant sheath called the "labellum”, which retracts as the sharp stylets contained within pierce the host's skin surface, as the insect obtains its blood meal. The orange color of the fascicle is due to the red color of the blood as it migrates up the thin, sharp translucent tube. The first reported epidemics of Dengue (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) occurred in 1779-1780 in Asia, Africa, and North America. The near simultaneous occurrence of outbreaks on three continents indicates that these viruses and their mosquito vector have had a worldwide distribution in the tropics for more than 200 years. During most of this time, DF was considered a mild, nonfatal disease of visitors to the tropics. Generally, there were long intervals (10-40 years) between major epidemics, mainly because the introduction of a new serotype in a susceptible population occurred only if viruses and their mosquito vector, primarily the <i>Aedes aegypti</i> mosquito, could survive the slow transport between population centers by sailing vessels.
Agriculture
Agriculture
Public Health

Agriculture

Public Health

Controlling the mosquitoes and insects that spread illness is a critical investment in the future; resulting in fewer sick people, better school attendance, stronger economies and a healthier, brighter future for entire communities. 

The mission of BASF’s Public Health business is to improve the quality of life for people around the globe through disease prevention. We accomplish this goal by working with the international community, including international health, government and humanitarian organizations, to provide innovative vector control products and programs. 

 

Every year, more than one billion people suffer from mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, West Nile Virus and yellow fever. Malaria alone affects over 200 million people and kills 435,000 every year. Thanks to concerted global action and investment, malaria cases have fallen by 18% since 2010 and death rates by 29%. An estimated 6.8 million lives, primarily young children, have been saved since 2001. But although progress has been made, diseases transmitted by insect vectors such as mosquitoes, remain a global threat. 

 

BASF's public health products - long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets, indoor residual wall sprays and larvicides - protect people, day and night from the mosquitoes that spread disease. 

 

In Malaysia, BASF sells Abate® laracides to help control the mosquitos that spread Dengue Fever.