News Health & Medicine

Dengue fever spreads in a neighborly way

Mapping the transmission of the painful disease could help target efforts to control it

spraying DDT

DISEASE DEFENSE  To control the spread of dengue in Bangkok, DDT is sprayed to kill mosquitoes, the primary insect that transmits the virus.

PongMoji/iStockphoto

By Elizabeth Eaton

- More than 2 years ago

Dengue is a bit of a homebody. By mapping the spread of the virus across Bangkok, scientists found that infections were most likely to occur within a few minutes’ walk of the home of the first person infected.