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Yellow Fever Mosquito Detected in California

By Kamal Nayan | Update Date: Oct 21, 2013 10:29 AM EDT

A deadly mosquito that is capable of carrying yellow fever and dengue has been detected in California. The vector control agents are scrambling to control its possible spread.

These were detected first in the Central Valley communities of Madera and Clovis in June. Recently they were again detected in the city of Frenso and San Mateo county in the Bay Area.

These mosquitoes prefer biting in day time, and prefer people to animals.

"If it gets away it will change the way we live in California. You may not be able to sit on your patio and enjoy a cup of coffee during the day without getting bit," said Tim Phillips of the Fresno Mosquito and Vector Control District according to SFGate.

These deadly mosquitoes need only a teaspoon of water to lay eggs to reproduce.

The situation could be worse if these mosquitoes named Aedes aegypti, bite someone who is infected with dengue. In southern Florida\ residents have been infected because it helped spreading disease faster.

"The nightmare scenarios is it gets established in California and then a mosquito bites someone with an imported case of dengue," Phillips said.

California has had nearly 200 cases of dengue fever in last three years.

"Unlike those mosquitoes that carry West Nile Virus and like to bite birds, these like to bite people and will enter homes very readily,"said Dr. Vickie Kramer, chief of the vector borne disease section at the California Department of Public Health, according to  SFGate."People need to be aware it's here and the medical community should be aware as well."

Scientists from Yale University are performing genetic testing on yellow fever mosquitoes to determine their origin. Preliminary results showed that these might be from Central America.

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