A researcher works on a mosquito stock cage in a laboratory at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London. (file photo)
Researchers say the stench of human feet could be a new tool for fighting deadly malaria mosquitoes.
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine researchers found that mosquitoes, infected with tropical diseases like malaria, are three times more attracted to stinky stockings.
“Smelly feet have a use after all. Every time we identify a new part of how the malaria mosquito interacts with us, we’re one step closer to controlling it better,” said Dr James Logan, the head of the research.
He stressed that the finding might help create traps for targeting malaria mosquitoes.
Logan went on to say that smelly cheese has the same odor as feet, but Å“mosquitoes aren’t attracted to cheese because they have evolved to know the difference.”
“You have to get the mixture, ratios and concentrations of those chemicals exactly right; otherwise the mosquito won’t think it’s a human,” he said.
More than 600,000 people, mostly African children, are killed by malaria every year.
SAB/PR
This article originally appeared on: Press TV