Chicken Smell Keeps Malaria Mosquitoes At Bay, New Study Finds

A new study has found that the smell which comes from chickens keep malaria-transmitting mosquitoes at bay. Researchers are hopeful that the knowledge will help prevent mosquitoes from spreading malaria.

The research study, conducted in western Ethiopia, found that while mosquitoes are attracted to human blood, they are repelled by the odor of chickens, reported LiveScience.

For the purpose of the study, the research team from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Addis Ababa University, collected 1,172 blood-fed Anopheles arabiensis, one of the predominant mosquito species which transmits malaria. The aim to the experiment was to find out mosquitoes' favorite target.

The study found that 63 percent of the mosquitoes sucked the blood of cattle, around 20 per cent sucked human blood with 5 per cent fed on goats and 2.6 percent on sheep. What's interesting to note is that the researchers found only one mosquito with chicken blood.

To further check the mosquito repellant power of chickens, the researchers made volunteers to sleep under an untreated bed net nearby in 11 homes for 11 days. It was found that fewer mosquitoes were caught in chicken compounds traps than in control traps. In fact, the researchers claimed that suspending a living chicken in a cage next to a trap had a similar repellent effect, reported The Mirror.

Professor Rickard Ignell, of Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, said that they were surprised to find that malaria mosquitoes get repelled by the odors emitted by chickens. He added that this is for the first time that a study has found that malaria mosquitoes actively avoid feeding on certain animal species, and that their behavior is regulated through odor cues.

Ignell said that the team has been able to identify a number of natural odour compounds which could repel host-seeking malaria mosquitoes and prevent them from getting in contact with people.

The research findings have been published in the Malaria Journal.