An international study led by scientists from the Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology (University of Haifa at Oranim), Prof. Ido Izhaki (VP and Dean of Research) and Prof. Malka Halpern found that mosquito-like aquatic insects called chironomids are natural reservoirs of epidemic and pandemic-causing strains of cholera bacterium. According to the study’s findings, monitoring and controlling the hardy chironomid populations in endemic areas could be an effective tool for predicting and controlling devastating cholera outbreaks. The study was published in PLOS.

**A non-biting midge, a type of chironomid. | Credit: John Tann