While tiger mosquitoes, potential vectors of disease for humans, are gaining ground in Europe, the Sciensano Public Health Institute invites Belgian citizens to keep an eye out and notify their presence on our territory.
This initiative is part of “MEMO + “, a new phase of the MEMO (Monitoring Exotic MOsquitoes) project launched by the Institute of Tropical Medicine of Antwerp (IMT) and intended to observe the presence of exotic mosquitoes in Belgium and the impact of this on public health. , said Sciensano on Monday.
It must be said that mosquito hunting has proved successful in recent years. IMT researchers have thus detected the presence of tiger mosquitoes, Asian forest mosquitoes and other exotic mosquitoes in motorway rest areas, in tire and bamboo import companies and on land industrial. Originally, the tiger mosquito comes from Southeast Asia, but now it has settled in parts of Europe, America and Africa, mainly due to the global transport of goods, the global warming and its great capacity for adaptation.
Not yet implemented
“We regularly find these mosquitoes in Belgium but for the moment, this species (tiger mosquitoes, Aedes albopictus, editor’s note) has not yet established itself there.“, says Isra Deblauwe, entomologist at IMT. “If these mosquitoes settle in our country, it will be important to follow their populations very closely, in order to be able to assess the risk of virus transmission.“.
“The tiger mosquito can potentially transmit pathogens such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus when it bites an infected person“, adds Javiera Rebolledo, responsible for the Sciensano project.
White and black stripes
Citizens are therefore invited to report the presence of these small insects, recognizable by their white and black stripes, by sending a photo to the site. https://surveillancemoustiques.be.
The best being “look in moist areas such as small puddles of standing water found in car tires, flower pots, gutters and rain barrels as this is where the tiger mosquito lays its eggs“, further advises Sciensano.