See this graphic of the complex malaria transmission lifecycle

Female Anopheles mosquito bites are the primary way malaria spreads

Females are the only ones that bite: They need blood to get essential nutrients for egg development. Very rarely, the disease is also spread via blood transfusions, organ transplants, shared needles, or from mother to fetus during pregnancy or birth.

Anopheles mosquitoes are developing resistance to insecticides

The malaria-transmitting mosquito species is developing resistance to the insecticides used in insecticide-treated bed nets and in indoor spraying in people's homes and communities. Malaria parasites are also developing resistance to antimalarial drugs.

Pregnancy makes someone more attractive to the mosquito species that transmits malaria

Research suggests that hormonal levels can affect mosquito attraction. Pregnancy, in particular, is associated with significantly increased interest from Anopheles mosquitoes, which boosts pregnant women's malaria risk.

Genetic analysis suggests Anopheles mosquitoes fed on humans some 1.8 million years ago

The 2026 paper, based on 11 species of Anopheles mosquitoes found in Southeast Asia, suggests that mosquitoes in the region likely developed their human blood preference between 2.9 million and 1.6 million years ago, overlapping with when scientists believe Homo erectus arrived there. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Mosquitoes drink a maximum of 0.01 milliliters of blood in a single meal

That's roughly equal to a human drinking the contents of an entire bathtub. Females, which are the only ones that drink blood, have a sensory nerve that signals when they're getting full, but if it's disabled, a mosquito would keep drinking until it bursts—a scientist conducted that experiment.

The mosquito's role in the transmission of malaria was confirmed in 1897

The British army doctor Ronald Ross, who later won the Nobel Prize for his work, was the first to describe the transmission of malarial parasites by mosquitoes. He had lab mosquitoes suck blood from malaria-infected people and separately found the malaria parasite inside a mosquito's gut, confirming the bug's role in malaria transmission.

Some mosquitoes are key pollinators—and eat disease-carrying mosquitoes

​​There are more than 3,500 species of mosquitoes, and only a small fraction of them bite humans. They also play vital roles in the ecosystem: One young elephant mosquito, for example, can eat dozens of smaller mosquitoes that bite humans in just one day. Sometimes mosquito-gobbling species are released by humans to control other mosquitoes.

Explore inside a mosquito factory where millions of mosquitoes are bred weekly

In Medellin, Colombia, scientists are infecting Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with Wolbachia, a bacterium that wouldn't otherwise infect the species, but does block its ability to transmit dengue, Zika, yellow fever, and chikungunya. In the wild, infected mosquitoes would breed with wild mosquitoes, pass down Wolbachia, and thus reduce disease transmission.

Yes, many animals get malaria—not just humans

Birds, rodents, monkeys, lizards, bats, apes, and livestock are among the species that can become infected with malaria. Infected animals' symptoms often resemble those of humans, including fever, lethargy, loss of appetite and difficulty breathing. Birds will also have ruffled feathers and drooped heads.

Children under 5 account for 76% of all malaria deaths in Africa

The main hypothesis for why the disease hits this age group the hardest is that children this young have still-developing immune systems. Pregnant women and people with HIV/AIDS are also at higher risk of severe infection.

Mosquito saliva acts as an anticlotting agent

The bug's piercing mouthpart, the proboscis, is actually several tubes—one for sucking, one for spitting. But the chemicals in its spit actually help its blood meal to flow, combating its victim's ability to clot at the puncture site.

Molecular evidence suggests the deadliest malaria parasite may be 100,000 years old

Plasmodium falciparum, the form of the parasite that kills the most humans, may date back 100,000 years, according to mitochondrial DNA analysis published in Science in 2003. It suggests that the parasite took off in humans about 10,000 years ago.

Antimalarials must be taken before traveling to a malaria-endemic area

Malaria prevention involves avoiding getting bitten by mosquitoes (with bug spray and clothing choices) and taking malaria preventative drugs before, during, and after spending time in an area with malaria risk. The drug must be in the blood before the traveler is exposed to malaria parasites.

See this diverse list of vector-borne diseases

Human illnesses caused by parasites, viruses, and bacteria, and transmitted by a living organism—often small, bloodsucking ones like mosquitoes, ticks, and sandflies—are known as vector-borne diseases. That carrier is called a vector. These diseases disproportionately affect the poorest populations in tropical and subtropical areas.

The 'kissing bug disease' occurs when a bug's parasite-laden poop gets into your blood

Chagas disease transmission can occur when triatomine bugs bite someone infected with a Trypanosoma cruzi parasite and then bite someone else, passing on the pathogen, though the parasite can also be transmitted in other ways, including via food, congenitally, and through blood transfusions. The bugs tend to feed at night and can bite anywhere on the body, but their reputation for biting people around the mouth and eyes created the idea that the bugs were "kissing" humans. Recent research suggests the disease may be endemic in the US.

Learn about the basic anatomy of mosquitoes

This short explainer video breaks down the mosquito's general body components, highlighting how mosquitoes breathe, fly, and more. It also touches on how experts can tell different mosquito species apart.

Hear what it's like to have malaria

In Kenya, as one malaria-sufferer explains, the disease is common enough that anytime a child has a fever or any sort of sickness families and the community will wonder if it's malaria. Sleeping under a mosquito net is recommended. Unfortunately, a gin and tonic will not keep malaria at bay.

See the geographic spread and incidence of malaria

This graphic shows the estimated global burden of malaria in 2025 as new cases per 1000 people at risk.

Malaria comes from the Italian term 'mal'aria,' meaning 'bad air'

The term refers to marshy areas associated with the disease. An estimated 94% of malaria cases—215 million—occur in Africa.

Florida reports 71 imported malaria cases annually—4% of all the US cases

The Sunshine State reports an average of 71 imported malaria cases annually. Malaria isn't endemic to Florida but mosquitoes in the state are biologically capable of transmitting the disease from one infected person to another noninfected person.

Untreated malaria can lead to blocked blood vessels in the brain, coma, and organ failure

Malaria is treatable with medications, but sometimes even after treatment, infection can come back because the disease-causing parasite wasn't completely eliminated. Patients may also have symptoms that emerge years after the initial infection and treatment.

Malaria case in Maryland stumped doctors in 2023—leading to the wrong treatment

When the state had its first locally acquired malaria case in over 40 years, the patient was misdiagnosed with a more common tick-borne infection, leading to weeks-long treatment for the wrong infection. The patient had symptoms that could occur with malaria or with babesiosis, a disease caused by Babesia parasites and transmitted by ticks in the US.

Watch what the Ebola virus does inside our cells and organs in order to spread and survive.

What are the phases of migraine?

Migraine attacks don't happen all at once. This interactive walks users through the phases of migraine. Scroll through this visual guide to migraine phases to learn more about migraine, related symptoms, and brain activity.

Measles attacks the body’s immune system, leaving it vulnerable to secondary complications

A measles infection begins in the lungs, where it hijacks cells known as macrophages and begins to replicate itself. It then uses a Trojan horse method to enter the lymph nodes, where it attacks vulnerable T and B cells. Symptoms include fever and rashes.

This is what happens inside your body when you're sick

This video details the biology of what happens inside the human body during illness.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus remains extremely rare, so the 2026 hantavirus cruise ship outbreak doesn't mean we're facing a COVID-style pandemic risk.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

Poison ivy is in the same family as mangoes, cashews, and pistachios—and they all produce oily urushiol in their raw, unprocessed state—but they are typically prepared in ways to avoid causing human discomfort.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

Coral reefs get their colors from zooxanthellae—microorganisms that line corals' digestive tracts and provide them with sugars in exchange for a home within this protective tissue.

Planarian flatworms are small, aquatic worms with exceptional regenerative capabilities. When cut, the worms can regenerate multiple bodies in a matter of weeks.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings are often assumed to be sexual, though the artist claimed she was simply interested in highlighting the beauty of flowers that most people neglect