New malaria-carrying mosquito found in Cameroon

A new form of mosquito carrying the parasite responsible for the most deadly form of malaria, Africa's biggest killer alongside HIV/AIDS, has been discovered in a village in southern Cameroon, researchers say.

Discovery of the hitherto-unknown variety, provisionally dubbed "Oveng Form" after the village where it was found, is likely to make the fight against malaria in Cameroon even more difficult, researchers say, although more research is needed.

A team of French and Cameroonian scientists made the discovery after collecting samples of Anopheles mosquitoes from five localities including Oveng village - which lies between two rivers near the border with Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

Mosquitoes from the Anopheles group transmit malaria - which kills roughly 3,000 people every day - to humans along rivers in Africa. The results of the study were published in the July issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology.