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.
Sindbis virus
Sindbis virus (SINV) is a member of the "Togaviridae" family, in the alphavirus subfamily. The virus was first isolated in 1952 in Cairo, Egypt. The virus is transmitted by mosquitoes ("Culex" spp.) SINV causes sindbis fever in humans and the symptoms include arthralgia, rash and malaise. Sindbis fever is most common in South and East Africa, Egypt, Israel, Philippines and parts of Australia. Sindbis virus is an "arbovirus" (arthropod-borne) and is maintained in nature by transmission between vertebrate (bird) hosts and invertebrate (mosquito) vectors. Humans are infected with Sindbis virus when bitten by an infected mosquito. SINV has been linked to Pogosta disease in Finland, Ockelbo disease in Sweden and Karelian fever in Russia.