Invasive Mosquitoes Find Favorable Conditions Due To Climate Change; Dengue Cases Surge In Europe

European nations have observed a spike in dengue cases caused by an invasive variety of Asian mosquitoes as a result of climate change, and experts are predicting a further rise in the cases in the coming years.

Surge Of Dengue Cases

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) issued a warning on Tuesday, stating that dengue cases have been steadily increasing throughout Europe and that some infections may become serious.

Tiger mosquitoes, an invasive species that is primarily found in tropical regions, have been discovered in 13 European Union countries. The discovery has been linked to a "significant" increase in dengue cases this year.

According to the ECDC, mosquito populations have increased in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain.

Tiger mosquitoes are the vectors for diseases like dengue fever, chikungunya, and the Zika virus, which annually cause millions of cases globally and wreak havoc in tropical nations.

Previously, the species was only found in warmer regions of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. However, specialists claimed that the hotter summertime is creating the perfect environment for the spread of these mosquitoes because of more travel and rising temperatures in Europe brought on by carbon pollution from burning coal, oil, and gas.

Compared to 71 occurrences in 2022, there were 130 locally acquired cases of dengue reported in the EU in 2023.

When you go further back in time, the trend becomes even more pronounced: from 2010 to 2021, there were 73 occurrences total.

"Europe is already seeing how climate change is creating more favorable conditions for invasive mosquitoes to spread into previously unaffected areas and infect more people with diseases such as dengue," said ECDC director Andrea Ammon.

Also increasing are cases that are imported. In 2023, more than 4,900 Europeans contracted dengue while traveling overseas, an increase from 1,572 cases in 2022 and the largest number since surveillance started in 2008.

Increase In The Coming Years

Although there aren't many infected individuals in Europe right now, the ECDC predicted that "we will see an increase in the coming years."

Due to the muscular spasms and joint discomfort it causes, dengue fever-also referred to as "breakbone fever"-begins to manifest symptoms four to ten days following a bite. Some symptoms are similar to those of the flu.

When these mosquitoes bite an individual who is infected, they transfer the virus to another person.

The National Health Service states that it is typically not serious and commonly resolves on its own. Rarely, a more severe form of dengue can strike someone.

There are other concerns besides the increase in dengue cases. Experts caution that future circumstances could potentially result in a rise in malaria cases.

An earlier study said Europe is the continent that is warming the fastest. Serious repercussions could arise from underfunding healthcare systems to handle tropical infections, which were uncommon in the past but are increasingly common in Europe.

The head of the United Nations health agency's dengue program, Dr. Raman Velayudhan, issued a warning last year about a "very worrying" increase in the virus's global spread in 2022, saying that the climate crisis "played a key role" in it.

In the southeast of England, officials in the UK have also discovered the tiger mosquito many times since 2016.