They are also much more likely than non-African mosquitoes to carry the deadliest of the four malarial parasites, Plasmodium falciparum.

ECONOMIST: Malaria: Four horsemen of the Apocalypse? | The

To reach their conclusion, Dr Rich and Dr Wolfe studied the DNA sequences of malarial parasites collected from nearly 100 wild or formerly wild chimpanzees born in central and west Africa.

ECONOMIST: Human malaria started in chimpanzees

It is now working on a modification that will arm malarial mosquitoes with antibodies to attack the parasites.

BBC: Venom to arm mosquito against malaria

In Africa, the Anopheles gambiae mosquito is the principle carrier of the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous of four different parasites.

BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Chemical key to mosquito biting