As seasons change, mosquitoes will still be busy spreading deadly diseases. Awareness and precautions can help.

Aedes aegypti, aka  'tiger mosquitos' bite
during the daytime. (Wikipedia photo)

During an average day, many people never think about mosquitoes, but perhaps the tiny arthropod deserves more consideration. Weighing in at a mere 2.5 milligrams (about 180,000 mosquitoes equal a pound), a female mosquito is considered the most deadly animal on earth. Lacking venom or any toxin, mosquitos kill by spreading diseases with alarming effectiveness -- around a million people die a year from illnesses caused by mosquito bites.

"Mosquitoes carry malaria, dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalitis," reports Alice Park of Time magazine. "Different species of mosquitoes are adept at spreading different viruses." This summer, mosquitoes along the East Coast have been making news. "Towns in Massachusetts are shutting down public parks and other outdoor areas after officials learned that mosquitoes in the region are carrying eastern equine encephalitis, a rare but deadly virus."

Mosquito-borne illnesses will keep increasing as climate change continues to warm the planet. Jonathan Oliver, associate professor at the University of Minnesota, told Park, "With climate change, we see the [habitat] ranges for concerning species like Aedes (which transmits most of the world’s malaria, dengue, yellow fever, West Nile and Zika) spreading northward. . . all predictions indicate that they are going to spread throughout the Southeast and up the Eastern Seaboard, and fairly high north in the Midwest." The more mosquitoes there are, the more bites and ranges of diseases they spread.

While working or playing outdoors is more often associated with mosquito encounters, urban populations are more at risk. "Growing urbanization and densely packed cities — with less-than-ideal sewage and sanitation systems — also provide more and fertile environments for mosquitoes to lay eggs and proliferate."

No matter where humans live, respecting mosquitoes and avoiding bites is key to disease prevention. "That means wearing long-sleeved clothing when outdoors and spraying yourself with insect repellent. You can also eliminate mosquito-breeding grounds by getting rid of any standing water around your home, since mosquitoes just need a little bit of water in which to lay their eggs."

Meanwhile, scientists are trying to depopulate mosquitoes with varied approaches. "Another strategy that appears encouraging is infecting mosquitoes with a bacterium that kills the viruses they may carry," Park adds. "This approach has been used in Southeast Asia and Australia to lower the rates of dengue transmission."