Rift Valley fever is a zoonotic virus with a near-100 percent mortality rate in young livestock and serious consequences for human health. In southern Africa, the identity of its primary mosquito vectors in many regions is poorly characterised. Without knowing which mosquitoes are biting which animals, designing surveillance or intervention strategies is largely guesswork.

A 2024 study in Parasites and Vectors spent three years collecting blood-fed mosquitoes in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, to answer exactly that question. The tool for identifying the blood meal host: DNA extraction from individual mosquitoes using prepGEM Universal.