QUESTION

Is Malaria a type of STD for mosquitoes?

ANSWER

No. Mosquitoes pick up the malaria parasite from feeding on the blood of infected humans. Since only female mosquitoes feed on blood (the males feed on nectar), male mosquitoes never get infected with the malaria parasite. The life cycle of malaria in the mosquito is also completely different than in humans, and mosquitoes have a completely different physiology and immune system to humans, so it cannot be said that they get the same disease as we observe when people get infected with malaria.