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Abstract
Despite almost a century of effort, the question of whether malaria parasites kill
their mosquito vectors remains open. Some direct comparisons of the longevity of infected
and uninfected mosquitoes have found malaria-induced mortality, whereas others have
not. Here, we use meta-analysis to show that, overall, malaria parasites do reduce
mosquito survival. However, mortality effects are more likely to be detected in unnatural
vector-parasite combinations and in studies of longer duration. Until these factors
are systematically investigated, no firm generalities are possible.