Mosquitoes that spread Zika, dengue and yellow fever are guided toward their victims by a scent from human skin. The exact composition of that scent has not been identified until now. A UC Riverside-led team discovered that the combination of carbon dioxide plus two chemicals, 2-ketoglutaric and lactic acids, elicits a scent that causes a mosquito to locate and land ...

Brazil and other areas hardest hit by the Zika virus – which can cause babies to be born with abnormally small heads – are also home to dengue virus, which is spread by the same mosquito species. A new study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that an antibody that protects against dengue ...

The worldwide Zika threat first emerged in 2015, infecting millions as it swept across the Americas. It struck great fear in pregnant women, as babies born with severe brain birth defects quickly overburdened hospitals and public health care systems. In response, there has been a flurry of heroic scientific efforts to stop Zika. Whole governments, academic labs and pharmaceutical companies ...