Targeting Zika and Other Mosquito-Borne Diseases

Zika is just the most recent talked-about disease that is spread by mosquitos. There are dozens of viruses that are borne by the mosquito family (Culicidae) through genus like Anopheles (malaria and others) and Aedes (Zika, dengue fever and others).

The World Health Organization reports that during the past 25 years the spread of mosquito-born diseases has grown at unprecedented rates. Population increases, climate change and deforestation are major reasons why this is happening.

Chocolate Moose Media’s Zika-prevention PSAs borrow from the same basic mosquito-control methods as Buzz and Bite.

The deadly phenomenon has been in Chocolate Moose Media’s (CMM) sights for a decade since Firdaus Kharas first put together his anti-malaria series of PSAs called Buzz and Bite. Preventing mosquitos from biting has always been the prime solution, and it is again with a newly released series aimed at preventing the spread of Zika.

Using material from Buzz and Bite, Kharas has re-versioned relevant videos to teach those in endemic areas the basic steps about protection. The 11 videos deal with eliminating standing water where mosquitos breed, using insect repellent and bed nets to keep mosquitos away from human skin and squashing some of the inevitable myths that emerge whenever an epidemic is happening, such as the disease is a result of genetically modified mosquitoes or it’s transmitted by vaccines, fruit or spirits. None of this is true.

The 11 videos are available for free download on Youtube and on Kharas’ Vimeo channel.

Research into other ways to control mosquito bites is exploding around the world. The Smithsonian magazine has some 21st Century solutions.

Trying to wipe out mosquitos altogether would be a mistake because of the 3,549 species, only 200 bite humans. The rest can have beneficial effects. Also, there is so little definitive information about Zika and its effects that response paths are in a holding pattern, except one: Control mosquito bites.

The traditional solutions outlined in CMM’s Zika videos are still, for now, the most effective.