PapersFlow Research Brief
Mosquito-borne diseases and control
Research Guide
What is Mosquito-borne diseases and control?
Mosquito-borne diseases and control is the study and practice of understanding infections transmitted by mosquitoes (notably dengue and Zika) and reducing their health impact through surveillance, clinical and laboratory research, and interventions that limit mosquito–human transmission.
The literature on mosquito-borne diseases and control spans epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnostics, and intervention design, with major emphasis on dengue and Zika as arboviral diseases transmitted by mosquitoes. This topic cluster contains 218,568 works, reflecting a large and sustained research base across public health and biomedical fields. Highly cited foundations include global dengue burden mapping in "The global distribution and burden of dengue" (2013) and clinical-epidemiologic synthesis in "Dengue and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever" (1998).
Topic Hierarchy
Research Sub-Topics
Zika Virus Epidemiology
This sub-topic tracks Zika transmission dynamics, seroprevalence, and risk factors across endemic regions using surveillance and modeling. Researchers quantify outbreak potential and predictors of spatial spread.
Dengue Global Burden and Distribution
This sub-topic maps dengue incidence, serotypes, and disability-adjusted life years worldwide via meta-analysis and geospatial models. Studies assess climate and urbanization drivers of expanding range.
Microcephaly and Zika Neurological Manifestations
This sub-topic investigates Zika-induced congenital Zika syndrome, brain pathology, and long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes through clinical cohorts and autopsies. Research elucidates viral mechanisms of fetal brain damage.
Dengue Vaccine Development
This sub-topic evaluates tetravalent dengue vaccine efficacy, safety, antibody-dependent enhancement risks, and trial designs. Researchers advance next-generation candidates targeting cross-serotype immunity.
Mosquito Vector Control Strategies
This sub-topic tests Wolbachia replacement, sterile insect technique, and insecticide innovations for Aedes population suppression. Field trials assess sustainability, resistance management, and community integration.
Why It Matters
Mosquito-borne diseases drive substantial clinical burden and require coordinated public-health action because transmission depends on both human infection dynamics and mosquito ecology. For dengue, "The global distribution and burden of dengue" (2013) is a central reference for quantifying where dengue occurs and motivating geographically targeted surveillance and control planning, while Gubler (1998) in "Dengue and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever" (1998) synthesized evidence that dengue’s reemergence is linked to expanded geographic distribution of viruses and vectors, increased epidemic activity, hyperendemicity, and the emergence of dengue hemorrhagic fever—features that directly shape control priorities (e.g., sustained vector control rather than short-term outbreak response). For Zika, Azevedo et al. (2018) in "In situ immune response and mechanisms of cell damage in central nervous system of fatal cases microcephaly by Zika virus" (2018) examined central nervous system immune responses and mechanisms of cell damage in fatal microcephaly cases, supporting clinical and public-health relevance of preventing infection in pregnancy through mosquito control and rapid case detection. On the tools side, Gootenberg et al. (2017) in "Nucleic acid detection with CRISPR-Cas13a/C2c2" (2017) demonstrated a sensitive and specific nucleic-acid detection approach, providing a methodological basis for field-deployable pathogen detection workflows that can strengthen outbreak investigation and surveillance for mosquito-borne viruses.
Reading Guide
Where to Start
Start with Gubler’s "Dengue and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever" (1998) because it synthesizes clinical presentation, epidemiology, and the public-health framing of dengue reemergence in a way that orients readers to why control is difficult and what outcomes matter.
Key Papers Explained
A coherent reading path begins with Gubler (1998), "Dengue and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever" (1998), for the clinical-epidemiologic baseline and the control problem statement (reemergence, expanded distribution, hyperendemicity, dengue hemorrhagic fever). It then pairs with Bhatt et al. (2013), "The global distribution and burden of dengue" (2013), which addresses where dengue occurs and why burden estimation is central to prioritizing interventions. For Zika-specific severity, Azevedo et al. (2018), "In situ immune response and mechanisms of cell damage in central nervous system of fatal cases microcephaly by Zika virus" (2018), provides mechanistic and pathological context for preventing infection in pregnancy. For surveillance and outbreak support, Gootenberg et al. (2017), "Nucleic acid detection with CRISPR-Cas13a/C2c2" (2017), contributes a generalizable nucleic-acid detection method relevant to pathogen identification workflows. Finally, Dong and Levine (2013), "Autophagy and Viruses: Adversaries or Allies?" (2013), and Moy and Cherry (2013), "Antimicrobial Autophagy: A Conserved Innate Immune Response in Drosophila" (2013), provide host-response concepts that can be used to interpret why infections differ in severity and how cellular pathways might affect viral control.
Paper Timeline
Most-cited paper highlighted in red. Papers ordered chronologically.
Advanced Directions
Within the bounds of the provided list, the clearest frontier directions are methodological and mechanistic: translating nucleic-acid detection concepts from "Nucleic acid detection with CRISPR-Cas13a/C2c2" (2017) into surveillance pipelines for mosquito-borne outbreaks, and refining causal models of severe outcomes using tissue-level evidence such as "In situ immune response and mechanisms of cell damage in central nervous system of fatal cases microcephaly by Zika virus" (2018). Another advanced direction is integrating host-pathway frameworks from "Autophagy and Viruses: Adversaries or Allies?" (2013) with disease-specific studies to identify which immune mechanisms plausibly alter viral replication or pathology in mosquito-borne infections.
Papers at a Glance
| # | Paper | Year | Venue | Citations | Open Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lounging in a lysosome: the intracellular lifestyle of Coxiell... | 2007 | Cellular Microbiology | 11.7K | ✓ |
| 2 | The global distribution and burden of dengue | 2013 | Nature | 9.8K | ✓ |
| 3 | Human Malaria Parasites in Continuous Culture | 1976 | Science | 7.9K | ✕ |
| 4 | A human homologue of the Drosophila Toll protein signals activ... | 1997 | Nature | 5.5K | ✕ |
| 5 | Autophagy and Viruses: Adversaries or Allies? | 2013 | Journal of Innate Immu... | 4.4K | ✓ |
| 6 | Dengue and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever | 1998 | Clinical Microbiology ... | 4.3K | ✓ |
| 7 | Synchronization of Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocytic Stages i... | 1979 | Journal of Parasitology | 3.7K | ✓ |
| 8 | Antimicrobial Autophagy: A Conserved Innate Immune Response in... | 2013 | Journal of Innate Immu... | 3.5K | ✓ |
| 9 | Nucleic acid detection with CRISPR-Cas13a/C2c2 | 2017 | Science | 3.5K | ✓ |
| 10 | In situ immune response and mechanisms of cell damage in centr... | 2018 | Scientific Reports | 3.5K | ✓ |
In the News
How a Malaria-Fighting Breakthrough Provides Lasting ...
A relatively new class of insecticide that can be disseminated on something the size of a sheet of paper offers protection for up to a year against mosquitoes that spread malaria, as well as dengue...
International collaboration launches largest-ever ...
A landmark international research collaboration has launched the largest clinical trial ever conducted to test therapeutics for moderate-severe dengue, a mosquito-borne viral disease that continues...
NIH-funded clinical trial will evaluate new dengue therapeutic
A clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is testing an experimental treatment designed to help people suffering the effects of dengue, a mosquito-borne viral disease. T...
Gene-drive-capable mosquitoes suppress patient-derived malaria in Tanzania
step closer to application, providing a locally tailored and powerful tool for malaria eradication through the targeted dissemination of beneficial genetic traits in wild mosquito populations.
Driving a protective allele of the mosquito FREP1 gene to combat malaria
Malaria remains a substantial global health challenge, causing approximately half a million deaths each year 1 . The mosquito fibrinogen-related protein 1 (FREP1) is required for malaria parasites ...
Code & Tools
**MGDrivE** is a framework designed to serve as a testbed in which gene-drive releases for mosquito-borne diseases control can be tested. It is bei...
exDE is software that implements a mathematical framework for setting up, analyzing, and solving models of mosquito-borne pathogen dynamics and con...
**MGDrivE** is a model designed to be a reliable testbed where various gene drive interventions for mosquito-borne diseases control. It is being de...
Mosquito-borne diseases, such as chikungunya, dengue, and malaria, are re-emerging and expanding to new and formerly unaffected places, leading to ...
Policy advice should be robust to uncertainty. Robust Analytics for Malaria Policy (RAMP) was developed as a bespoke inferential system for malaria...
Recent Preprints
Leveraging microbial ecology for mosquito-borne disease ...
- Bacteria are promising agents for preventing mosquito-borne pathogen infections worldwide. - Understanding host–microbe interactions and microbial ecology is key to generating a cost-effective a...
Evaluating the therapeutic potential of Wolbachia in ...
Mosquito-borne diseases remain a major public health challenge worldwide, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), cardiac dirofilariasis, and tropical pulm...
Gene-drive-capable mosquitoes suppress patient-derived malaria in Tanzania
Gene drive technology presents a transformative approach to combatting malaria by introducing genetic modifications into wild mosquito populations to reduce their vectorial capacity. Although effec...
A male-drive female-sterile system for the self-limited control of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae
Despite great leaps forward in preventing and treating malaria, several challenges, including insecticide resistance, have hindered progress in fighting the disease. Thus, there is a pressing need ...
Success in Mosquito Control: An Integrated Approach
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) collaborate on mosquito control activities throughout the United States to control diseases. By looking at b...
Latest Developments
Recent developments in mosquito-borne disease research include the advancement of climate-driven studies showing that diseases like dengue and Zika are spreading to higher altitudes and more northern regions due to climate change (UC Berkeley, published January 29, 2026). Additionally, innovative control methods such as the Wolbachia-based mosquito population suppression are being deployed globally, providing lasting protection against diseases like dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever (World Mosquito Program, latest update). Advances in genetic technologies, including gene-drive mosquitoes and sterile male systems, are also showing promise in controlling malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases (Nature, December 2025; Nature Communications, October 2025). Moreover, record activity levels of mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile virus and chikungunya in Europe highlight the impact of climate change on disease transmission patterns (ECDC, August 2025).
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
What are mosquito-borne diseases and which ones dominate this research cluster?
Mosquito-borne diseases are infections transmitted to humans through mosquito bites, often caused by arboviruses. The provided topic description specifies a strong focus on dengue and Zika, including epidemiology, neurological manifestations (microcephaly and Guillain-Barré Syndrome), vaccine development, and vector control.
How is dengue’s global public-health importance characterized in the core literature?
"The global distribution and burden of dengue" (2013) is a highly cited reference that addresses dengue’s global distribution and burden and is commonly used to motivate surveillance and geographically targeted control. Gubler (1998) in "Dengue and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever" (1998) emphasized dengue’s reemergence with expanded geographic distribution, increased epidemic activity, hyperendemicity, and dengue hemorrhagic fever, framing dengue as a sustained control challenge rather than a sporadic problem.
How does Zika research in this set connect mosquito control to prevention of severe outcomes?
Azevedo et al. (2018) in "In situ immune response and mechanisms of cell damage in central nervous system of fatal cases microcephaly by Zika virus" (2018) investigated immune response and cell-damage mechanisms in fatal microcephaly cases attributed to Zika virus infection. This connects mosquito control to prevention by underscoring that avoiding infection—especially in pregnancy—can avert severe congenital outcomes.
Which diagnostic methodology in the provided list is relevant to surveillance of mosquito-borne pathogens?
Gootenberg et al. (2017) in "Nucleic acid detection with CRISPR-Cas13a/C2c2" (2017) described a method for sensitive and specific nucleic-acid detection. Such nucleic-acid detection approaches are directly relevant to surveillance because they can be used to detect pathogen genetic material in clinical or field-collected samples.
Which papers in the list inform mechanistic thinking about host responses that could matter for arboviral disease severity?
Dong and Levine (2013) in "Autophagy and Viruses: Adversaries or Allies?" (2013) reviewed how autophagy intersects with viral infection through pathogen degradation and immune signaling. Moy and Cherry (2013) in "Antimicrobial Autophagy: A Conserved Innate Immune Response in Drosophila" (2013) summarized autophagy as a conserved immune response implicated in restricting diverse pathogens, providing conceptual grounding for studying virus–host interactions relevant to arboviral disease.
Why do malaria-related laboratory methods appear in a mosquito-borne diseases and control corpus?
Mosquito-borne disease control includes malaria alongside arboviruses, and laboratory methods that enable malaria research often become foundational across vector-borne disease biology. Trager and Jensen (1976) in "Human Malaria Parasites in Continuous Culture" (1976) and Lambros and Vanderberg (1979) in "Synchronization of Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocytic Stages in Culture" (1979) established techniques for maintaining and synchronizing Plasmodium falciparum in culture, supporting experimental studies that can inform intervention development and evaluation.
Open Research Questions
- ? How can burden-mapping approaches exemplified by "The global distribution and burden of dengue" (2013) be linked to actionable, locally optimized vector-control decisions while accounting for heterogeneous transmission settings?
- ? Which immune-response and tissue-damage pathways described in "In situ immune response and mechanisms of cell damage in central nervous system of fatal cases microcephaly by Zika virus" (2018) are causal drivers of severe congenital outcomes, and which are secondary correlates of fatal disease?
- ? How can nucleic-acid detection strategies demonstrated in "Nucleic acid detection with CRISPR-Cas13a/C2c2" (2017) be adapted into surveillance systems that reliably distinguish co-circulating mosquito-borne pathogens in real-world field conditions?
- ? Which autophagy-linked mechanisms summarized in "Autophagy and Viruses: Adversaries or Allies?" (2013) and "Antimicrobial Autophagy: A Conserved Innate Immune Response in Drosophila" (2013) are most likely to translate into measurable differences in arboviral replication, transmission potential, or clinical severity in humans?
- ? How can insights from malaria culture and synchronization methods ("Human Malaria Parasites in Continuous Culture" (1976); "Synchronization of Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocytic Stages in Culture" (1979)) be integrated with vector-focused studies to better connect parasite biology to mosquito-stage bottlenecks relevant for control?
Recent Trends
The provided data describe a large body of work (218,568 papers) centered on arboviral diseases—especially dengue and Zika—spanning epidemiology, neurological manifestations, vaccine development, and vector control.
In the highly cited core, dengue burden estimation and global mapping remain anchored by Bhatt et al. in "The global distribution and burden of dengue" (2013), while Zika’s neurological consequences are represented by Azevedo et al. (2018) in "In situ immune response and mechanisms of cell damage in central nervous system of fatal cases microcephaly by Zika virus" (2018).
2013Methodologically, the inclusion of Gootenberg et al. in "Nucleic acid detection with CRISPR-Cas13a/C2c2" (2017) signals sustained emphasis on sensitive nucleic-acid detection as a cross-cutting capability for surveillance and outbreak response.
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