Chicken smell leaves mosquitoes spitting feathers

Forget Malarone: the best protection against malaria is a chicken under your bed. Scientists from Sweden and Ethiopa have produced research showing that a major transmitter of the virus actively avoids chickens while searching for hosts, according to research published in Malaria Journal. Researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia found that the Anopheles arabiensis species of mosquito in sub-Saharan Africa has developed ways of distinguishing between potential host species. The research team collected data from three villages in Ethiopia where people share their living space with livestock, as well as testing the blood…