Mosquito-borne disease
Mosquito-borne diseases or mosquito-borne illnesses are diseases caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites transmitted by mosquitoes. They can transmit disease without being affected themselves. Nearly 700 million people get a mosquito-borne illness each year resulting in over one million deaths.
Plasmodium
In addition to a vertebrate host, all "Plasmodium" species also infect a bloodsucking insect host, generally a mosquito (although some reptile-infecting parasites are transmitted by sandflies). Mosquitoes of the genera "Culex", "Anopheles", "Culiseta", "Mansonia" and "Aedes" act as insect hosts for various "Plasmodium" species. The best studied of these are the "Anopheles" mosquitoes which host the "Plasmodium" parasites of human malaria, as well as "Culex" mosquitoes which host the "Plasmodium" species that cause malaria in birds. Only female mosquitoes are infected with "Plasmodium", since only they feed on the blood of vertebrate hosts. Different species affect their insect hosts differently. Sometimes, insects infected with "Plasmodium" have reduced lifespan and reduced ability to produce offspring. Further, some species of "Plasmodium" appear to cause insects to prefer to bite infected vertebrate hosts over non-infected hosts.