74 The Deadly Nuisance

D. H. Lawrence assailed it as “that small, high, hateful bugle.” The creature he was speaking of was the mosquito. Most of us think of her—only the females bite—as merely a summertime nuisance. We barricade ourselves behind screens when we inevitably get bitten. But it also a carrier of the most deadly disease has been more than an inconvenience. It is also a carrier of the most deadly disease.

As a mosquito has been recognized as the transmitter of the disease most frequently associated with the fever and chills of malaria. Although the United States most developed nations have now either eradicated or significantly controlled this disease, malaria still afflicts more than 150 million people in the tropics, killing more than a million children a year in Africa alone.

Yellow fever is another disease carried by mosquitoes. It has been brought under control in North America and South America, it remains an exotic disease. But though it is now confined to Africa, it is as deadly as ever. It has been responsible for encephalitis, which can cause brain damage or death, is one mosquito-borne human disease that still appears in the United States. Common birds carry this dis- ease too, but it’s the pesky mosquito that transmits it to people. Most of the time, your risk of contracting encephalitis is minimal but it to people. Most of the time, your risk of contracting encephalitis is minimal, but screens and insect repellent may be pro- tection from much more than a mere nuisance.

74 致命的烦人精

D.H.劳伦斯曾痛斥它是“那只又小又尖、可恨的小虫”。他说的这种生物就是蚊子。我们大多数人都认为它——只有雌蚊会叮咬——只是夏日里的烦人精。当我们不可避免地被叮咬时，会躲在纱窗后面。但它不仅仅是个麻烦，它还是最致命疾病的携带者。

蚊子已被确认为最常与疟疾的发热和寒战相关的疾病传播者。尽管美国和大多数发达国家现在已经根除或显著控制了这种疾病，但疟疾仍困扰着热带地区超过1.5亿人，仅在非洲每年就导致超过100万儿童死亡。

黄热病是另一种由蚊子传播的疾病。它已在北美和南美得到控制，但仍是一种外来疾病。不过尽管它现在仅局限于非洲，其致命性仍一如往常。它还会引发脑炎，可能造成脑损伤或死亡，这是一种仍会出现在美国的蚊媒人类疾病。普通鸟类也携带这种疾病，但正是烦人的蚊子将其传播给人类。大多数时候，你感染脑炎的风险很低，但纱窗和驱蚊剂能帮你抵御的，远不止一个小小的烦人精。