Disease-bearing insects spreading
According to a new Joint Research Centre (JRC) report, disease-bearing insects are spreading across the globe, exposing more humans to viral infections such as Dengue fever, Chikungunya, Zika, West Nile fever, yellow fever and tick-borne encephalitis.
This is due, in part, to climate change, international travel and international trade. Global warming has enabled disease-bearing insects to proliferate, adapt to different seasons, migrate and spread to new areas that have become warmer.
Aedes mosquitoes, which spread several arboviruses (arthropod-borne viruses), including Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika, West Nile and yellow fever viruses, have recently become established in some European countries and the Americas, largely as a result of international travel and trade. They are difficult to eradicate as their larvae are able to survive for months.
The report describes methods that have been used to control the spread of mosquitos, such as insecticides, mosquito traps, genetic modification, land reclamation and habitat surveillance. The current safest and most readily available methods are mosquito traps and nets, and reducing potential breeding sites.
The team behind the study advocate better control of mosquito populations yet warn that it would be unwise to eradicate them as they are part of the food web for some species and pollinate many plants.