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This 2006 photograph depicted a female Aedes aegypti mosquito while she was in the process of acquiring a blood meal from her human host, who in this instance, was actually the biomedical photographer, James Gathany, here at the Centers for Disease Control. The feeding apparatus consisted of a sharp, orange-colored “fascicle” that was covered in a soft, pliant sheath called the "labellum” while not feeding. The labellum was shown here retracted as the sharp "stylets" contained within pierced the host's skin surface, thereby, allowing the insect to obtain its blood meal. The orange color of the fascicle was due to the red color of the blood as it migrated up the thin, sharp translucent tube. Note the distended abdominal exoskeleton, which being translucent, allowed the color of the ingested blood meal to be visible. Dengue (DF) and Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are primarily diseases of tropical and sub-tropical areas, and the four different Dengue serotypes (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4), are maintained in a cycle that involves humans and the Aedes mosquito. However, Aedes aegypti, a domestic, day-biting mosquito that prefers to feed on humans, is the most common Aedes species. Infections produce a spectrum of clinical illness ranging from a nonspecific viral syndrome to severe and fatal hemorrhagic disease. Important risk factors for DHF include the strain of the infecting virus, as well as the age, and especially the prior Dengue infection history of the patient. This female’s abdomen had become distended due to the blood meal she was ingesting, imparting the red coloration to her translucent abdominal exoskeleton. This image was created in 2006 and provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/University of Notre Dame/James Gathany. [0003-0702-1223-5410] by 0003
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Keywords
aedes aegypti, aedes aegypti mosquito, aedes aegypti mosquitoes, african american people, cdc, cdc employees, female, insect, lab technician, lab technicians, laboratorian, laboratorians, laboratories, laboratory, laboratory technician, laboratory technicians, ladies, lady, mosquito, people, person, research, researcher, researchers, researching, science, scientist, scientists, woman, women
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