Bacterial and Viral Infection
Climate change and health
Dr Sulaiman S. Ibrahim and Dr Ilaria Dorigatti are using data from field mosquito laboratory experiments in Nigeria to predict the climate change effects on mosquito-borne diseases.
Mathematical models are useful tools for predicting the spread of diseases and the agents which transmit them.
Mosquito-borne viruses are passed from human to human through their bites. Since mosquitoes are cold-blooded, their life cycle and survival depend on environmental temperature and, by extension, humidity.
In this project, Dr Sulaiman S. Ibrahim from the Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases, Cameroon and Dr Ilaria Dorigatti from Imperial College London aim to study the impact of variation in temperature and humidity on the fitness of Aedes, the mosquito that transmits dengue, zika, yellow fever, and other deadly viruses.
The researchers plan to collect the mosquitoes along contrasting ecological settings across Nigeria. They will then test the impact of these environmental variables on the ability of the mosquitoes to blood feed, lay eggs and survive, as well as the speed of their development.
The team will feed the generated data into mathematical models that mimic the transmission of viruses from mosquitoes to humans. This will enable them to study the effect of current and future environmental variables (i.e., changing climate scenarios) on the risk of infection faced by populations living in proximity of these mosquitoes around the world - including those who are not currently exposed but could be affected by the diseases in the future.