A new film from Discovery will highlight the dangers posed by mosquitoes, the greatest threat to human lives in modern history.
The film will focus on the deadly insect responsible for the widespread nature of illnesses such as Zika, malaria, West Nile virus, yellow fever and dengue, and the cause of more than 750,000 deaths a year: the mosquito.
MOSQUITO will investigate the dangerous and unpredictable nature of the small insect, and will look at how global travel, trade and climate change have made the expansion of these outbreaks and spreading of disease easier.
The film will be narrated by Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) and features interviews with leading experts including former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr Thomas Frieden, and Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“MOSQUITO sounds a worldwide alarm about the need for bold steps to address this increasingly urgent threat," said David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery Communications.
"As a purpose-driven company, we are proud to leverage the strength of our unmatched television and digital services in all corners of the globe to call on citizens and worldwide leaders alike to act.”
The film will show personal accounts from those affected by deadly diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, including a father and son from Kenya who have both contracted malaria, a mother from New York who contracted West Nile virus in her neighbourhood in Queens, and a Brazilian pregnant mother Ane Júliana Araúja, who is already caring for her baby born with Zika and fears for the safety of her unborn child.
It was reported that nearly half of the world's population is at risk of contracting malaria and now over 2.5bn people are at risk of a potential outbreak of Zika, spread globally by the increasing amounts of air travel.
Former CDC director Frieden comments in the film that, “There are so many diseases that can be spread by mosquitoes. We are going to have to come up with new, better combined ways to stopping the mosquito to protect ourselves not just from Zika… but also whatever else might come next.”
MOSQUITO will be released on 6th July on Discovery Channel and Discovery networks worldwide.
