Mosquitos, can they be carriers of HIV?

[limbo]

A big fat juicilly filled mosquito squashed into oblivion, can it potentially give one HIV if you squash the mosquito and the spilled blood gets into an open wound on your body?

[Nervous_Dog]

I have always thought the same.

[Zaad]

Limbo,

 

Fortunately they're not able to spread the virus. We'd have a serious problem if they did.

 

Is HIV spread by mosquitoes?

 

NO! If mosquitoes could transmit HIV, there would be many more people with HIV and AIDS.

Mosquitoes may spread malaria, but not AIDS. They will digest the blood that they took from their victim, not to inject it into another human being.

 

Check this link for more info on your question.

 

P.S. Of course it COULD BE possible if you splash one seconds after it bit an HIV infected person etc. but that's highly unlikely ever going to happen which means that *spreading* the virus is simply not a possibility.

[Guest]

No,

 

Not at this point in time. Is not a vector. But does not mean virus cannot mutate in the future, to accept this type of transmission mode.

 

That is the fear, that........and mutating to becoming aerosolized.

 

HT

[MrX]

HT wrote:"But does not mean virus cannot mutate in the future, to accept this type of transmission mode.

 

That is the fear, that........and mutating to becoming aerosolized."

 

 

This is the first time I have heard this. Is there a realistic possibility that a mutation to enable a new tranmission mode will occur?

 

I thought the whole HIV mutation thing was "confined" to the difficulty of manufacturing an efficient anti-viral which would take out an unstable virus....

[Nervous_Dog]

From reading Zaads answer, it is the mosquito that would have to mutate, not the virus?

 

DOG

[lembeh]

 

The correct answer would probably be "both" to that question, but very, very undefined area of knowledge.

-j-

[Guest]

Hi,

 

>>>>Is there a realistic possibility that a mutation to enable a new tranmission mode will occur?<<<

 

It's very real. Look at Ebola, as an example. It's a virus (filovirus) that kills you in about a week, by turning all your internal organs to mush. African burial rites, have family members wrapping dead in cloths, while body ouzing liquified organs, and then wiping their eye's, which is a favorite entry point for Ebola. Can only be contracted through contact with infected bodily fluids. 10 years ago there were 2 known strains (Zaire and Sudan). Then a load of monkey's were brought to Reston, Virginia for research. They started dying, and were found to have Ebola virus. But the scary thing was....they were all dying in different sections of the building :: That's right! Ebola had gone 'airborn'. They found a strain in these monkeys, that could travel like the Flu, but turned out to not be a danger to humans, only to monkeys. In fact, several workers in Reston were infected. All by airborn particles, except one researcher who was slicing an severely infected monkey liver (a favorite hiding place for ebola virus), and buried his scalpel into his thumb.

 

All persons did not get sick, and their bodies had completely ousted the virus in 2 years time. The only difference they could determine between 'Zaire' strain, and the Reston strain, was that both had 7 different proteins, 4 of which were unknown. It had to be a difference in one of those protein that enabled humans to fight it off. Of course, once Zaire and Sudan strains 'learns' to be able to jump hosts (monkey to human, or whatever the vector might be), we're all in a lot of trouble. Should note that Reston shipment of monkeys came from the Philippines.

 

The trouble with HIV is that it is a 'hypermutant'. It mutates at incredible speed, as viruses go. Most mutate after long periods of time, of going through it's species hosts. HIV can actually mutate while within a single infected person. Pretty unheard of, in the virus world. The good news is, HIV can only live about 20 seconds, exposed to air. Unlike Ebola's nasty cousin , Marburg virus, which can live 5 days in water, losing no potency whatsoever. Probably why mosquitoes don't/can't transmit HIV. Any residue left on their 'stinger', is long dead by the time it needs to feed again. Either that, or they have an enzyme that kills the virus after it (stinger) retracts back up into body, much like the human mouth has. That's why there are no recorded instances of human transmission from blowjobs (well....one. But involved serious dental surgery, right before).

 

A virus's life is to learn, and mutate, to survive. Since HIV always eventually kills it's human host, it must find ways to move on to another. That's it's goal. If it's residing in a perfect compatable host, then it wouldn't need to mutate. The scary thing is, Ebola has learned how to do it. Luckily, only with the non-harming strain. HIV is a mutating machine. The speed at which it is changing itself, to better survive, is alarming. Sooner, or later, it will learn how to survive in the lungs, or throat, given enough time. When that happens, a simple cough will be all that will be needed to transmit itself to a new host. That evolution usualy takes a very long time, and hopefully we'll be able to find a way to stop it, before reaching that point. But it could also happen tomorrow. Ask any virologist.......it's always their greatest fear. What is the cure right now, for Ebola? All will tell you the same thing....a case of scotch, and a week or two. If it goes airborn tomorrow, there is not a single thing, anyone can do. ::

 

HIV is a little different, in that there is more time before death, and some drugs to prolong life. But if HIV were to go aerosol tomorrow? Mass hysteria, of biblical proportions. Airline travel would cease to exist. Scary stuff!

 

BTW...Reston monkey's (100 of them), were "crab eating monkey's", which are from S.E. Asia. They live along the rivers, and are also called "Kra" monkey's. 4 were already dead when got to destination in US, but that was not unusual, percentage wise, from any other shipment.

 

HT

[MrX]

Thanks for the informative post....

a couple of niggles

 

you write : "Since HIV always eventually kills it's human host,"

 

pretty sure I remember that there is a HIV infected sub population which does not develop A.I.D.S.

 

 

and; "That's why there are no recorded instances of human transmission from blowjobs"

 

Thought this practice was classified as medium risk behaviour

[Guest]

In another thread:

 

>>>>The virus (SARS) has most commonly been found in chickens, but scientists fear it could mutate by combining with a human flu virus, sparking a global pandemic.<<<

 

As I said in post above, it's not really a matter of 'if' and 'how'. It's more a matter of 'when', and how effective it will be in making the 'jump' to a new host. The SARS virus is a great example of this. We are actually watching it mutate in 'real time', at a pretty accelerated rate. It's been able to jump to both feline (tigers, cats), and human species, within a frighteningly short period of time.

 

It's just a matter of time before one of these deadly virus's learn to survive through aerosolizing. The black plague was nothing. It wiped out half the world's population even before the advent of air travel. You can only imagine what something like this could do to us now.

 

It's a very real threat, that *will* happen. It's just a matter of how well prepared we are, to deal with it, when it does. Unfortunately, I think priorities of the world are eleswhere. But when it does happen, it will make all other issues before us, look silly.

 

HT