Which mosquito is the primary vector for malaria transmission?

Which mosquito is the primary vector for malaria transmission?

• A. Aedes mosquito
• B. Culex mosquito
• C. Mansonia mosquito
• D. Anopheles mosquito

Answer: (D)

Malaria relies on the malaria parasite completing part of its life cycle inside a mosquito before it can infect a new person. Anopheles mosquitoes are the primary vectors because they efficiently support the parasite’s development to the infectious sporozoite stage in their gut and salivary glands and tend to bite humans, facilitating transmission. This combination of allowing parasite maturation and frequent human biting makes Anopheles the main carrier of malaria. Other mosquito genera spread different diseases—Aedes for dengue, Zika, and chikungunya; Culex for West Nile and certain filariases; Mansonia for Brugia malayi—so they are not the principal vectors for malaria.

Malaria relies on the malaria parasite completing part of its life cycle inside a mosquito before it can infect a new person. Anopheles mosquitoes are the primary vectors because they efficiently support the parasite’s development to the infectious sporozoite stage in their gut and salivary glands and tend to bite humans, facilitating transmission. This combination of allowing parasite maturation and frequent human biting makes Anopheles the main carrier of malaria. Other mosquito genera spread different diseases—Aedes for dengue, Zika, and chikungunya; Culex for West Nile and certain filariases; Mansonia for Brugia malayi—so they are not the principal vectors for malaria.