2023-08-07 09:54:10
The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) is doing too little once morest the Asian tiger mosquito, says an organization that opposes exotics. That is why the Platform Stop Invasive Exotics is going to the Council of State. The mosquito has recently reappeared at some car tire companies in the Netherlands. They do not belong here and they can transmit diseases such as dengue (dengue fever) and Zika.
“Stricter action is needed with companies that do not take the right precautions and there must be better communication. Holidaymakers who come from countries where the tiger mosquito is common must be informed regarding the possibility that such a mosquito can hitch a ride on the journey back to the Netherlands,” says Wilfred Reinhold, initiator of the platform.
The mosquitoes usually end up in the Netherlands through the import of Lucky bamboo, an ornamental plant from China, and through the import of used car tires from countries such as Italy and the United States. The common factor: the tiger mosquitoes can lay eggs in both products if there is a layer of water in them.
Report in time
The situation is being closely monitored, Pascale Schreurs, spokesperson for the NVWA, said. “Control measures in a place where the tiger mosquito was found will take place until the end of the mosquito season – the end of October.” The breeding ground of a mosquito is removed and, if that is not possible, biological pellets are used that only kill the larvae. If adult mosquitoes are found at a tire company, they will be killed.
Local residents of a site are informed regarding the situation by means of a letter. They are asked to search the garden for possible breeding grounds, remove them and report any specimens of exotic mosquitoes found. “The moment of reporting is important,” says Schreurs. If it is reported too late, the number of mosquitoes can already have increased considerably and it is more difficult to do anything regarding it.
There are also preventive regulations. Companies must import and store tires dry. Reinhold says that those regulations are not always adhered to. “The government in Italy, for example, did nothing. Meanwhile, the country is full of those mosquitoes. Including outbreaks of exotic diseases. From Italy, the tiger mosquitoes spread further across Europe.”
NVWA: Chance of getting sick is not great
The chance that someone will become ill following a bite from the tiger mosquito is not great, reports the NVWA, because the diseases that these mosquitoes can transmit hardly occur in the Netherlands.
The tiger mosquito was first observed in the Netherlands in 2005. This year, the tiger mosquito was reported in twelve places in the Netherlands, seven of which were at tire companies. The location of the exotic species is particularly interesting, according to the NVWA. If tiger mosquitoes are found more often in residential areas, it is because more mosquitoes hitch a ride with holidaymakers. This indicates that the number of mosquitoes in the source countries is increasing, the authority reports.
The Stop Invasive Exotics platform previously went to court, but the court then ruled that there was insufficient evidence that a tire company had broken the law. The platform did not agree with this and that is why the case is now with the Council of State. Reinhold: “If the NVWA says ‘well, it can happen’ when importing wet tires, then it is not surprising that companies do not make any effort to import tires dry.” The date of the hearing is still unknown.
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