Did you know Chickens helps to prevent malaria – Scientists

Ethiopian scientists have discovered
mosquitoes are repulsed by the smell of
chicken, raising hopes for the development
of a novel way to prevent a disease that kills
hundreds of thousands every year.
A team of insect experts led by Professor
Habte Tekie at the University of Addis Ababa
began their investigation after noticing that
mosquitoes bite humans and other animals
but stay away from chickens.
“We went into the chemical basis involved in
repelling malaria mosquitoes by odours
emanating from the chickens… The results
show that compounds from chicken have
very good potential as repellent,” Tekie told
AFP.
One theory for their behaviour is that
mosquitoes see chickens as a predator, so
seek to avoid them, he said.

Tests carried out in three villages in western
Ethiopia showed that families that slept
beneath a chicken in a cage overnight were
mosquito-free in the morning, while homes
without indoor poultry were not.
The obvious challenges of sleeping with a
bird suspended over the bed were
addressed in a follow-up experiment in
which villagers were supplied with vials of
chicken extract. The results were similar.
The findings, recently published in the
medical publication Malaria Journal, will be
used in a new collaboration with Swedish
scientists to develop an odourless repellent.
“This repellent will be safe for human use,
(with) no residues contaminating soil or
water or poisoning people and it can easily
be integrated into malaria control
operations,” Tekie said.
Malaria threatens 60 per cent of the
population of Ethiopia, a nation of almost
100 million people.
The chicken stock with a difference will be
“entirely natural,” according to the scientist,
and the chance of mosquitoes developing
resistance is “minimal”.
There is currently no vaccine against
malaria, and the disease killed 438,000
people in 2015, according to the latest
figures from the World Health Organisation.
AFP