My name is Rob Poole and I’m a Community Education Facilitator for HIV Edmonton. In my work, I’m continually asked about why mosquitoes do not transmit HIV. Here is an article I found with a simple explanation:
Question: Can I get infected with HIV from mosquitoes?
Answer: The answer is a resounding NO. From the start of the HIV epidemic, there has been concern about HIV transmission of the virus by biting and bloodsucking insects, such as mosquitoes. However, studies conducted by the CDC and elsewhere have shown no evidence of HIV transmission through mosquitoes or any other insects -- even in areas where there are many cases of AIDS and large populations of mosquitoes. Lack of such outbreaks, despite intense efforts to detect them, supports the conclusion that HIV is not transmitted by insects.
The results of experiments and observations of insect biting behavior indicate that when an insect bites a person, it does not inject its own or a previously bitten person's or animal's blood into the next person. Rather, it injects saliva, which acts as a lubricant so the insect can feed efficiently. Diseases such as yellow fever and malaria are transmitted through the saliva of specific species of mosquitoes. However, HIV lives for only a short time inside an insect and, unlike organisms that are transmitted via insect bites, HIV does not reproduce (and does not survive) in insects. Thus, even if the virus enters a mosquito or another insect, the insect does not become infected and cannot transmit HIV to the next human it bites.
There also is no reason to fear that a mosquito or other insect could transmit HIV from one person to another through HIV-infected blood left on its mouth parts. Several reasons help explain why this is so:
- Infected people do not have constantly high levels of HIV in their blood streams.
- Insect mouth parts retain only very small amounts of blood on their surfaces.
- Scientists who study insects have determined that biting insects normally do not travel from one person to the next immediately after ingesting blood. Rather, they fly to a resting place to digest the blood meal.
There are diseases that mosquitoes can carry, one being West Nile Virus1. For more information on West Nile Virus check About's Healthcare Center2.
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I hope this helps. Also important to add: HIV requires a host cell to bind with, invade, and use to reproduce. In humans, the host cell is the CD4 cell. HIV is a retro-virus that has RNA but not its own DNA, hence the need to invade and take over the DNA of a CD4 cell. Mosquitoes do not have CD4 cells and therefore any HIV present in the blood that the mosquito ingests dies quickly.
Remember – there’s no such thing as a dumb question. If you have questions about HIV transmission, testing, treatment… anything, feel free to email me health@hivedmonton.com
Have a great day-
Rob
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