August 20 - World Mosquito Day

 Posted on August 20, 2020

World Mosquito Day?

I know we are supposed to honor all living things, because they are part of so many food chains (honestly, food webs!), and they all have a role in the circle of life.
 

So even ugly critters like hagfish get their special day...

And scavengers (creatures that eat dead creatures) like buzzards get their special day.

Even decomposers (organisms that break down dead organisms and waste products - yeah, we're talking about poop!) like mushrooms and bacteria are usually honored as very important parts of an ecosystem. If there were no such thing as decomposers, there would be no circle of life.

But mosquitos! Yitch! They are so pesky, so bothersome, and many times so deadly. Mosquitos kill more 13 times more people every year than snakes, crocodiles, scorpions, and hippopotamuses combined!

That's because, at least in some tropical locales, mosquitos can carry diseases like malaria. And that is actually why we have a World Mosquito Day: today is the anniversary of the discovery in 1897 that female mosquitos often transmit malaria from person to person. That discovery, made by doctor and polymath Sir Ronald Ross, allowed us to figure out effective ways to combat the disease!

For example, since 2000, almost 7 million lives have been saved by simply using mosquito netting around beds! An estimated BILLION cases of malaria were prevented by those same nets. 

So...hooray for Doctor Ross, and for organizations like Malaria No More and Nothing But Nets!

Also on this date:

Anniversary of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture 

Birthday of Bernardo O'Higgins, the “Liberator of Chile”

St. Stephen's Day in Hungary

Anniversary of the launch of Voyager 2

Restoration of Independence Day in Estonia

Birthday of U.S. President Benjamin Harrison

 

The Revolution of the King and the People in Morocco

National Radio Day

Islamic New Year

(date varies! a lot!)

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

• August holidays
• August birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in August

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• September holidays
• September birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in September
  

December 3, 2011 - Happy Birthday, Carlos Juan Finlay

Yellow fever was one of the most dangerous diseases during the 19^th century, with several terrible outbreaks in the Americas, Africa, and Europe. People needed to figure out how the disease was spread so they could fight it!

Enter our birthday boy, a Cuban scientist and doctor. He studied yellow fever and made a hypothesis (which means an educated guess) that the disease was being spread through mosquitos. If an infected person was bitten by a mosquito, and later a healthy person was bitten by the same mosquito, the second person usually developed the disease.

Finlay (born on this day in 1833) published this hypothesis in 1886, but his idea was ignored for two decades. Finally U.S. military doctor Walter Reed paid attention to Finlay's idea and began to test it. Soon Reed's team confirmed that the mosquito was spreading the disease, and people began to control the disease by controlling the mosquitos.

We call “pests” (like rats or mosquitos) that carry diseases “vectors.”

Reed often gets the credit for “beating” yellow fever, but he gives credit to Finlay. Unfortunately, the disease isn't really beaten, yet; is only controlled in parts of the in the world. Africa still has a problem with the disease, and it can still crop up in Latin America, too. As a matter of fact, there are an estimated 200,000 cases each year, with 30,000 people dying of yellow fever per year!

Learn more, take action!

PestWorld for Kids has info, science fair kits, and games. 

Malaria is also spread by mosquitos, as are other dangerous illnesses. The United Nations Foundation has a campaign called Nothing But Nets. Donate to help prevent mosquito-borne illnesses and death!