Malaria Life Cycle Animation: Mosquito Host — HHMI BioInteractive Video

>> Mosquitos are usually vegetarian preferring to drink nectar, fruit juices, and honey dew. Only a pregnant mosquito will bite humans seeking nutrients from blood to nourish her developing eggs. If she drink bloods from someone infected with Malaria, she too becomes infected with the disease. The tiny drop of blood filling the insect's stomach, is teaming with Malaria parasites. The parasite form that is deadly inside humans cannot survive in the mosquito's stomach, and it's slowly digested with the rest of her blood meal. However, back in the human host, a few of the parasites turned into a different type of cell, one that is sexual but remains dormant. Malaria sixth is triggered when the warm human blood begins to cool inside the insect's stomach. The female form of the parasite matures into an egg. The male form takes a while longer to mature into sperm. This sperm is from an earlier feed. The fertilized cell can glide and begins to explore its new environment. It migrates to the outer lining of the mosquito's stomach before transforming into a cyst. Each cyst produces thousands of thin, tiny parasites, which seek out and infest the mosquito's salivary glands. The next time this mosquito bites a victim, the Malaria parasite will ride in with her saliva and infect another human. This year, 10% of people on Earth will be struck down with Malaria. Most people who die from the disease will be pregnant women and children under the age of five.

Channel: biointeractive

Views: 460,231

Keywords: Malaria, mosquito, mosquito bites, parasite, mosquito borne diseases, malaria life cycle, mosquito illness, how do you get malaria, malaria transmission, what is malaria, is malaria contagious, evolution, HHMI BioInteractive Science Education, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Award Winner)

Id: 0uyE046It3o

Length: 3min 59sec (239 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 11 2014