Each year, mosquito-borne infectious diseases such as malaria and dengue fever cause millions of deaths worldwide. Olfactory cues that are emitted from breath, skin and sweat attract female blood-feeding mosquitoes to vertebrate hosts. CO_2 that is present in breath is a key attractive cue for mosquitoes. Reporting in Nature, Ray and colleagues show that compounds that interfere with the insects' CO_2-detection machinery disrupt host-seeking behaviour and might be used to develop a new generation of mosquito traps and repellents.
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