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I heard that the chance of contracting HIV from mosquitos is highly improbable, but I'm wondering about other incurable, chronic, or crippling diseases. I know malaria and the west nile virus can be spread through mosquitos. Are there any other mosquito-spread viruses or illnesses that have affected significant populations?

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Mosquitos transmit the pathogens that cause malaria, filariasis, dengue, yellow fever, West Nile fever, Rift Valley fever, and dozens of other infectious diseases of humans, domestic animals, and wildlife

Ross, Macdonald, and a Theory for the Dynamics and Control of Mosquito-Transmitted Pathogens

You already mentioned malaria and West Nile. The others mentioned are:

Filariasis

Lymphatic filariasis is infection with the filarial worms, Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi or B. timori. These parasites are transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito and develop into adult worms in the lymphatic vessels, causing severe damage and swelling (lymphoedema)

According to the WHO, about 120 million people worldwide are currently infected. It causes pain and disfigurement.

Filariasis can be cured if treated in time your can also be chronic and lead to lasting health problems.

Dengue fever

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that has rapidly spread in all regions of WHO in recent years. Dengue virus is transmitted by female mosquitoes mainly of the species Aedes aegypti and, to a lesser extent, A. albopictus. The disease is widespread throughout the tropics

Estimates are that there's about 400 million infections a year, with about 100 million showing clinical symptoms. There is no specific treatment or vaccination, but it is not chronic.

The number of infections is increasing and the WHO estimates that half of the world's population is at risk, with the disease being endemic in 100 countries.

Yellow Fever

The yellow fever virus is an arbovirus of the flavivirus genus, and the mosquito is the primary vector. It carries the virus from one host to another, primarily between monkeys, from monkeys to humans, and from person to person.

Yellow fever can cause high fevers and jaundice. It's responsible for an estimated 30,000 deaths a year, out of 200,000 infections. Numbers are increasing, and about 900 million people live in countries where they are at risk. Yellow fever is not chronic.

Rift Valley Fever

Transmission through mosquitos isn't the primary source of infection for Rift Valley Fever - it is mostly transmitted through

the handling of animal tissue during slaughtering or butchering, assisting with animal births, conducting veterinary procedures, or from the disposal of carcasses or fetuses

There's a few more mentioned at the CDC list for mosquito-borne diseases, for example:

Japanese Encephalitis

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is the most important cause of viral encephalitis in Asia. It is a mosquito-borne flavivirus, meaning it is related to dengue, yellow fever and West Nile viruses

This affects 24 countries with about 70,000 cases being treated each year, up to 30 percent of which result in death. Japanese Encephalitis is not chronic.

Chikungunya

The virus is transmitted from human to human by the bites of infected female mosquitoes. Most commonly, the mosquitoes involved are Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, two species which can also transmit other mosquito-borne viruses, including dengue.

This disease had several large outbreaks in Africa within the last two decades. Since 2005, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar and Thailand have reported over 1.9 million cases. Some patients develop chronic joint pain.

Sources

All quotes are from the World Health Organization:

WHO Filariasis Overview

WHO factsheet Filariasis

WHO factsheet Dengue Fever

WHO factsheet Yellow Fever

WHO factsheet Rift Valley Fever

WHO factsheet Japanese Encephalitis

WHO factsheet Chikungunya

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    Argh, I only saw "crippling", not "incurable" and "chronic" when reading. Most of these are not chronic, and even though most don't have specific treatments, the immune system does destroy them. I'll try to see if I can find anything chronic later.
    – YviDe
    Nov 30, 2015 at 17:39
  • This is great! Thank you for the information. I can always tweak the question ;)
    – Dave Liu
    Nov 30, 2015 at 21:09
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    Dengue isn't chronic, but it does put you at greater risk for severe outcomes upon reinfection.
    – Fomite
    Dec 1, 2015 at 6:40
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There are a number of diseases which can be spread by mosquitoes. like

  • Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease. It is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes. It is also known as Chikungunya virus disease or Chikungunya fever.
  • Malaria is a disease caused by an infection of the red blood cells with a tiny organism. This is a mosquito-borne infectious disease. Malaria is contracted by the bite of mosquitoes. When an infected mosquito (the Anopheles mosquito) bites you, it injects the malaria parasites into your blood.
  • Typhoid fever is a serious and sometimes life-threatening infection associated with fever caused by the bacteria Salmonella typhi. The bacteria get deposited in water or food by a human carrier and are then spread to other people in the area. It is food and water borne disease.
  • dengue
  • zika fever
  • yellow fever
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    There's already an accepted answer that provided all the info this answer does, and then some.
    – Carey Gregory ♦
    Oct 18, 2016 at 18:49

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