Stinky Feet Could Help Trap Mosquitoes Infected with Malaria

If you have stinky feet, you may be in luck. (Well, sort of, that is.)

According to a recent study, researchers believe that they could actually play a role in fighting off malaria.

Scientists found that mosquitoes infected with the tropical disease tended to be more attracted to the whiff of a smelly sock than those that didn't carry malaria. In fact, insects carrying the disease were up to three times more likely to be drawn to odor perforating from feet.

Researchers believe this may help target only malaria-carrying mosquitoes so they can potentially be trapped.

"Smelly feet have a use after all," said Dr. James Logan, who headed the research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "Every time we identify a new part of how the malaria mosquito interacts with us, we're one step closer to controlling it better."

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 3.3 billion people, or the equivalent of half of the world's population, live in areas at risk of malaria transmission in 106 countries and territories.

The website writes that in 2010 alone, malaria caused an estimated 216 million clinical episodes, and 655,000 deaths. An estimated 91 percent of deaths in 2010 were in the African Region, followed by 6 percent in the South-East Asian Region and 3 percent in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. About 86 percent of deaths globally were in children.

As many scientists have suspected that human odors draw mosquitoes and other insects, it was unclear if having malaria made these attractions to human smells stronger.

CTV News notes that mosquitoes are believed to make up 1 percent of the mosquito population. Researchers are hopeful that using traps that only target malaria mosquitoes could result in fewer mosquitoes that would become resistant to the insecticide used to kill them.

"The only way mosquitoes could (develop resistance) is if they were less attracted to human odours," said Andrew Read, via CTV News, a professor of biology and entomology at the University of Pennsylvania, who was not part of Logan's research. "And if they did that and started feeding on something else -- like cows -- that would be fine."

However, researchers note that more studies need to be completed in order to determine if this could help stave off the disease.

"At the moment, we only have these glimpses of how parasites are manipulating the mosquitoes," said George Christophides, via CTV News, the chair of infectious disease and immunity at Imperial College London. "We need to exploit that information to help us control malaria."

The sock findings were published last month in the journal, PLoS One.