Scientists in the US found that the Aedes aegypti, known as the yellow fever mosquito, is able to adapt to the temperatures in its “local environment” amid climate change, thus optimizing its performance in transmitting diseases.
“The takeaway from our study is that if we want to fully understand transmission in a location and how this might change in the future, we should study mosquitoes locally and not assume that the way temperature affects transmission in one place can necessarily be extrapolated to all other places,” he stressed in statements to EFE entomologist Matthew Thomas.
Aedes aegypti is one of the most important invasive species globally, responsible for infecting more than 400 million people worldwide each year with viruses such as dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya and Zika.
The study, in which the University of Florida (UF) participated, examined the thermal adaptation of mosquitoes, a critical aspect that is often overlooked in models that evaluate the impact of climate change on diseases transmitted by these insects. .
According to the UF Invasive Species Scientific Research Institute (ISRI), many models do not consider the potential influence of thermal adaptation on mosquitoes and therefore their improved performance, i.e. physical fitness or potential to transmit diseases such as dengue or Zika.
For Thomas, director of the ISRI, what the study suggests is that “mosquitoes can optimize their performance in the immediate local environment in the midst of climate changes.”
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“This is potentially important because it suggests that if we want to make accurate predictions of the current or future risk distribution of diseases like dengue or Zika, we might need to examine mosquito biology at a local level and not simply assume that we can take a model of transmission and extrapolate it in time and space,” he said.
“How is this local adaptation might lead to different transmission risk patterns is now the subject of a follow-up study we are just completing“he indicated.
Aedes aegypti, Thomas explained, is generally limited to the tropics and subtropics. The optimal temperature is probably between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius.
He explained that its potential to transmit diseases will be “severely” affected below 20 degrees Celsius or above approximately 35 degrees Celsius.
“On average, as the climate warms, we expect suitable conditions to move further north, potentially allowing mosquitoes to expand their distribution and also potentially increasing the number of months suitable for disease transmission,” he pointed.
However, conditions might also become too hot, leading to reductions in its distribution elsewhere.
On whether there are cities that are experiencing an increase in diseases transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes due to their increased comfort levels as a result of temperature changes attributed to climate change, Thomas said more studies are required.
However, he noted that the results of the current research, which was published in the journal Global Change Biology“would suggest that populations can adapt to maximize their fitness in their local environments and we would expect this to influence the risk of transmission.
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From cities like Miami, which was severely affected by Zica, Thomas pointed out that this jurisdiction is very suitable for this species of mosquito and also to allow the transmission of that disease.
“It is currently not known whether mosquitoes have adapted to the specific conditions of Miami and how this adaptation has occurred, but our results suggest that this is likely and might determine the risk of local transmission,” he added.
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