Mosquitoes require blood to live, but only the females bite because they require the blood to lay eggs. Since they are small, they do not require a lot of blood from their hosts, but mosquito saliva is what causes the itchiness. It’s also this pest saliva that can transmit a number of potentially dangerous diseases.

In fact, mosquitoes are known to carry and transmit viruses and diseases for both animals and humans. Some of them are specific to certain species of mosquitoes, but across the board mosquitoes can be dangerous to mammals.

Some of the diseases attributed to mosquitoes include:

• Zika Virus– the virus has been positively linked to mosquitoes, in particular the A. aegypti and A. albopictus species. The virus tends to cause only very mild symptoms to the person who is first infected such as a fever, headache, muscle aches, a rash and a few other symptoms that disappear quickly. However, once inside a person, it can cause serious problems down the road and has been linked to birth defects such as microcephaly or to illnesses such as Guillain-Barre syndrome.
• West Nile Virus (WNV) – first found in the U.S. in 1999, West Nile is an aborovirus linked to mosquitoes and it can be deadly to humans. The virus affects people in different ways, but can lead to encephalitis and meningitis.
• Canine Heartworm – pets are not immune to the problems that come from mosquitoes. Heartworm is a serious illness that can be deadly to dogs and some cats by leading to congestive heart failure.
• Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) – although this illness is best known for being serious for horses, it can also be found in other mammals and even be transmitted to human beings.
• Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE) – although this illness is best known for being serious for horses, it can also be found in other mammals and even be transmitted to human beings.
• La Crosse Virus (LAC) – this virus is another form of encephalitis and when it first appears brings about symptoms such as vomiting, fever, headaches, and nausea. However, it can quickly get much worse and lead to seizers, paralysis, brain damage, comas and even death.
• St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE) – in 1933 the first appearance of SLE appeared in the city that bears its name. These days around 128 people throughout the United States get this illnesses every year. Like other encephalitis illnesses it presents as a cold at first, but becomes worse fast.
• Malaria – these days malaria is not much of a concern here in the U.S. However, in other parts of the world, this is still a very serious problem and if someone travels from the U.S. to other parts of the world, it is possible they could get bitten and bring malaria back with them. Malaria is a parasite that first presents like a bout of the flu, but then quickly becomes very serious. The Anopheles mosquito is known to carry malaria.
• Dengue Fever – also not very common in the United States, but Dengue Fever is very nasty because it is a hemorrhagic, which means it causes lots of bleeding. Outbreaks do happen from time to time as people travel. This disease has been linked to the Aedes aegypti species of mosquito.