If you want to avoid getting malaria, consider cuddling a chicken. Seriously.
New research published today in Malaria Journal shows malaria-transmitting mosquitoes won’t feed on chickens due to their smell — meaning humans could use these smells to prevent getting the disease.
Researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia discovered this phenomenon when studying the leading malaria-spreading mosquito species Anopheles arabiensis .
The researchers examined three Ethiopian villages where humans and livestock co-habitate. They looked at human and domestic animal data and blood-fed mosquitoes to track said blood’s origins. Data showed that Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes sought humans indoors over animals, but outdoors would venture for cattle, goats and sheep. In each instance, they steered clear of chickens.
Researchers also gathered the hair, wool and feathers of possible host and non-host species. They pinpointed compounds only found in chicken feathers and set up mosquito traps to test their repellent ability compared to separate compounds. The chicken compound traps had fewer mosquitoes compared to the control traps, and placing a living chicken in a cage near the trap led to a comparable occurrence.
This research could lead to malaria prevention methods where they’re needed most. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 438,000 people died of malaria last year, mostly African region children.
“People in sub-Saharan Africa have suffered considerably under the burden of malaria over an extended period of time and mosquitoes are becoming increasingly physiologically resistant to pesticides, while also changing their feeding habits for example by moving from indoors to outdoors,” study author Rickard Ignell said in a press release. “For this reason there is a need to develop novel control methods. In our study, we have been able to identify a number of natural odour compounds which could repel host-seeking malaria mosquitoes and prevent them from getting in contact with people.”
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Prevent Malaria By Sleeping With a Chicken originally appeared on usnews.com
