There is nothing more annoying than a mosquito buzzing around in the middle of the night, knowing that we could be its next victim. Unfortunately this little nightmare will soon be a very uncomfortable and very frequent reality. Because? Deforestation.

Along the coast of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina is the Atlantic Forest which, according to the World Wild Fund For Naturein 1 hectare “it houses around 450 species of trees. 7% of the plants and 5% of the vertebrate animals in the world are found there.” And most of these species are endemic.

Despite its richness, the forest that once measured almost 5.6 times the size of the state of Chihuahua, now only covers the territory of that state (247,460 km2). The reduction is due to human activity such as mass tourism, agricultural, logging and paper logging, as well as the growth of urban areas. In the face of such devastation, the disappearance of species is inevitable.

And what is the relationship of all this with mosquitoes and pandemics? With fewer forest-dwelling animals to sting, insects have adapted a particular taste for human blood. According to Dr. Sergio Machado, microbiologist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiroand their colleagues detected that 75% of the mosquitoes examined in the region had ingested human blood.

Beyond itching, “identifying their food sources provides information about mosquito feeding behaviors and directly impacts the epidemiology of mosquito-borne pathogens such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya.”

The percentage obtained by the research can be supported through the Pan American Health Organization. Between 2022 and 2024, in America, 3.1 million cases of dengue, Zika and chikungunya increased, a figure that increased to 13 million 538 thousand 421 cases.

Based on the political decisions that are being made worldwide, we will surely face one or more pandemics related to mosquito-borne diseases. According to Raúl Benet, advisor and communicator on environmental issues, global warming and the loss of biodiversity is seen as an “opportunity for economic expansion and territorial control.”

The question would be, if these diseases spread, how will we face the next pandemics? Taking into account that modern medicine does not have a treatment to deal with them, it can only relieve the symptoms. No matter how much oil, rare earths or rubies we find in Greenland, as humanity we are not prepared for this.