Microsoft co-founder Bill Gatesknow Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation working to improve health care and alleviate poverty in developing and underdeveloped countries, drew attention to a deadly natural threat that often goes unnoticed by many people.

What happened: Back in July 2022, the billionaire took to Twitter to highlight the devastation caused by mosquitoes, which are the main vectors of viral infections. Gates shared a video clip from a Shark Week show that shows a shark holding onto its prey like a fighter jet, even when it’s fully inverted.

Tagging Discovery, the tech entrepreneur, said sharks are cool but mosquitoes are deadly.

“Did you know that mosquitoes kill more people in one day than sharks kill in 100 years?” he added.

Mosquitoes are vectors that transmit viruses that cause dengue, malaria, zika, chikungunya, lymphatic filariasis, and Japanese encephalitis, among others.

Gates later tweeted about new cases of polio entering the US from Malawi, saying poliovirus remains a threat until it is eradicated. The poliovirus is not transmitted by mosquitoes, but rather through contaminated water or food, or through contact with an infected person.

This article was originally published on July 25, 2022.

Photo: Courtesy of Shutterstock.