An Emerging Threat: Mosquito-Borne Diseases in Europe

An emerging threat Mosquito-borne diseases in Europe Tropical mosquito-borne diseases are originally prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions. Some are especially endemic in regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas and cause substantial illness for more than one billion people globally. Mosquitoes can carry infectious diseases from person to person and from place to place. An emerging (or re-emerging) infectious disease is often a disease already known but spreading to new geographic areas, new populations, or reappearing after having been eradicated. Just one bite away from infection Different species of mosquitos can carry different diseases Invasive mosquitos local mosquitos- Invasive mosquitoes are determined by their ability to colo- nise new territories. A considerable in- crease in the spread of invasive mósqui- toes has been ob- served in Europe since the late 1990s. 1. After dispearence in the 2oth century Aedes aegypti has recently established in Madeira, It is also present around the Black Sea coast, Russia and Georgia. 2. Aedes albopictus is considered to be the most invasive mosquito species in the world. D. 3. Culex plplens is the most widespread mosquito in Europe 4. The Anopheles mosquito can be found from south- eastem Sweden to Portugal. West Nile Fever Cases can be severe, most oftern among the elderly. An esti- mated 1 out of 140 to 320 persons infected can get severly sick. Dengue: Most infected people have fever lasting 10 days. More then 390 million cases are es- timated worldwide. Chikungunya Infected people suffer from fever and strong arthralgia, which can last for months. No vaccination is avail- able. Malaria Worldwide, approx. 600 000 deaths peo- ple die every year Early diagnosis and prompt treatment can prevent illness and death. Prophy- laxis is available." Climate and transportation Travel, trade and climate change influence mosquito and disease distribution 99% of all malaria cases in Europe are travel related. It is predicted that future climate trends More than 5.8 million travellers entered Europe from dengue-affected areas in 2010. will increase the risk of establishment of Aedes albopictus in northern Europe, due to wetter and warmer conditions. Rising temperatures in the summer months contributed to West Nile fever affecting new areas in Southern Eastem Europe. Ae. albopictus has moved from continent to conti- nent via trade. Recent outbreaks West Nile Fever, 2010 to present o Mosquito-borne disease outbreaks in Europe Culex pipiens (local) West Nile In 2010, Europe witnessed an unprecedented upsurge in the numbers of West Nile fever cases. Human cases of West Nile fever were detected in several south east- em EU countries. There have been recent outbreaks since then. Dengue, 20120 Aedes aegypti (invasive) Dengue - imported through travel From 2012 to January 2013, the autonomous province of Madeira, Portugal, reported its first dengue out- break, with 2 168 dengue cases. 87 patients retuming from Madeira were diagnosed in other European coun- tries with dengue infection, Chikungunya, 2007 0 Aedes albopictus (invasive) - Imported in Italy in the 90s through international trade: in car tyres from the Ús into Genova and spreading from there. Chikungunya - imported through travel, after an infected traveller returned from India ECDC, Stockhol, 2014 To evaluate the risk of emerging vector-borne diseases to the EU, ECDC issues risk assessments on outbreaks occurring in Europe or EU overseas territories. ECDC ecdc collects environmental and climatic data through the E, Network to support It was the first autochthonous chikungunya outbreak in Europe, with over 200 individuals affected. Since then it is acknowledged that Europe is vulnerable for transmission of tropical arboviruses', particularly in areas where Aedes albopictus is present. predicting the environmental suitability for vector-borne disease transmission in O S Europe. Jointly, EFSA and ECDC collect data on vectors and vector-borne diseases and analyse their spread in the European Union,