Mosquitoes, Diseases, and Creation

While it's good to examine various creatures, whether in person or from some kind of monitor, to admire their specified complexity. I'll allow that I detest mosquitoes. Although only the female wants blood (and over forty species don't bother with it), they pollinate and drink nectar, and not all carry diseases, I'm not going to examine one to see if it's harmless. I smash it. Don't be giving me that look, you know you do it too.

Asian tiger mosquito image credit: CDC/ James Gathany

Aside from the itching bumps from a bite and wondering if the dreadful thing carried West Nile virus, the Zika virus, or something else nasty, some people are concerned about their effects on horses, cattle, and animals as well (see "The Ultimate Guide to Mosquito Management on the Farm"). Interestingly, their desire for human blood seems to be a comparatively "recent" development. But if God created everything "very good", how can these things be responsible for the deaths of millions of people? Creationists have some conjectures about this.

Mosquitoes (Family Culicidae) have been the scourge of mankind since the Fall. Although seemingly designed to inflict suffering and pain via rapid reproduction and formidable mouthparts, evidence mounts that this creature was not always the deadly vector it is today. Mosquitoes are currently and have always been pollinators. The majority of their lives they feed on plants, nectar, pollen, and microbes even in today's world. The Zika virus is but the latest of a significant list of pathogens spread by “the world’s most dangerous animal.” In the past, Christians have been involved in key discoveries linking mosquitoes to diseases.

This heavily illustrated and informative article by Dr. Alan Gillen (special studies in zoology and medical microbiology) and Mr. Frank Sherwin (M.A. in zoology with special study in parasitology) is definitely worth your time. To finish the article, click on "The Design of the Mosquito and Its Dangers".