Aedes mosquitoes as vectors of disease

Aedes is one of the most important types of disease-carrying mosquito, transmitting viruses which cause yellow fever, dengue, equine encephalitis and Bancroft's filariasis.

The genus Aedes contains one hundred species. It is abundant and has worldwide distribution; certain species being serious pests in Arctic and subarctic latitudes. Most of the medically important species of Aedes belong to the subgenus Stegomyia. They include Aedes scutellaris, the main vectors of human filariasis over much of the Pacific area; A aegypti, the cosmopolitan carrier of yellow fever and other human diseases; A africanus which maintains an important reservoir of yellow fever among monkeys; A circumluteolus, carrier of several diseases in South Africa; and A scapularis which carries several diseases in the western hemisphere.