The findings allow researchers to compare the genome for the Aedes aegypti mosquito with another disease vector, Anopheles gambiae, the mosquito that carries malaria, as well as the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, the magazine said.

Vishvanath Nene, of the Institute for Genomic Research outside Washington and his colleagues did the work, Science reported.

"These insects represent the two major mosquito subfamilies, and the differences between them should reflect inherent biological properties, such as blood feeding preferences, host-seeking behaviour and individual abilities to transmit certain pathogens," the magazine said in a statement.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito spreads annually 200 000 cases of yellow fever, which cause 30 000 deaths in the world, 95 percent of them in Africa.

Likewise, it delivers some 50 million to 100 million doses of the potentially lethal dengue fever, which also hits Africa hardest but is growing in Latin America, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reporting on WHO statistics.

Via: iafrica