7 Very Interesting Facts About Chickens and Mosquitoes

Malaria is not new to any African as it has been a major health scare in Africa.

There is currently no vaccine against malaria and according to the latest figures from the World Health Organisation, the disease killed 438,000 people in 2015.

However, if the new finding by a team of scientists come through then Malaria might become a thing of the past in Africa

1. A group of Ethiopian scientists have discovered mosquitoes are repulsed by the smell of chicken and this finding has raised hopes for the development of a new way to prevent a disease that kills many Africans yearly.

2. The team 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.

3. The prof speaking with AFP said they 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." Adding that one theory for their behaviour is that mosquitoes see chickens as a predator, so seek to avoid them.

4. It was revealed that tests carried out in the three villages in western Ethiopia showed that families that slept beneath a chicken cage over night were mosquito-free in the morning, while homes indoor poultry were not.

5. 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.

6. The findings will be published in the medical publication Malaria Journal, and will be used in a new collaboration with Swedish scientists to develop an odourless repellent. A repellent that 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, the prof said.

7. Tekie added that the The chicken stock with a difference will be "entirely natural," according to the scientist, and the chance of mosquitoes developing resistance is "minimal".