Mosquitoes Declare War on Mount Kenya

Parasites Wage War on Mount Kenya

According to a British-funded research team, malaria has increased seven-folds on the slopes of Mount Kenya due to a two degree increase in temperature. As a result of the temperature increase around the mountain in the past 20 years, the disease has reached higher areas. Population of four millions at higher reaches has little or no immunity. The research which is funded by the British Department for International Development (DfID), found that the Kenyan Central Highlands’ temperature had risen from 17 C in 1989 to 19 C today.

Because the parasites want a temperature of 18 C to enable maturing, malaria was absent from the region before 1990. But with a rise in temperature today mosquitoes have taken the disease to high altitude areas resulting in epidemic outbreak in humans.

A spokesman for the DFID said that the seven-fold increase is directly attributable to man-made climate change. Those in the West Kenyan highlands of Kenya have been provided with mosquito nets since malaria has been noticed. The DFID has handed out 14 million bed nets since 2001.

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