Tiger mosquito sighted at nine locations in Belgium
Since the beginning of the year, the tiger mosquito has been sighted 13 times in nine locations in Belgium, research institute Sciensano reports. The number of reported sightings so far in 2024 is 800, 100 more than last year.
The tiger mosquito, which can transmit viruses that cause diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and zika, is increasingly present in Belgium. As of 21 May, it has been sighted in nine locations. These include six new locations: Boom, Humbeek, Ghent and Schelle in Flanders, Verviers in Wallonia and Saint-Josse in Brussels. They have also been spotted in Wilrijk, Kessel-Lo and Wolfsdonk.
New research shows that the tiger mosquito is overwintering in more places. It was already known that eggs were surviving in Wilrijk and Lebbeke, but now the mosquito appears to be overwintering in Ath, Puurs-Sint-Amands and Kessel-Lo.
"The unusually warm winter further stimulated the survival of overwintering eggs"
“In 2023, we collected larvae from different gardens in each of these locations, indicating a growing tiger mosquito population,” says entomologist Isra Deblauwe of the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp. "The unusually warm winter further stimulated the survival of overwintering eggs."
The tiger mosquito arrived in southern Europe in the first decade of this century and has been advancing north ever since. Experts say it is thriving on the continent in part because of climate change. As countries get wetter and warmer, conditions become more favourable for invasive mosquitoes to survive on the continent.
Sciensano and the ITM are urging citizens to continue reporting the tiger mosquito through the citizen science platform mosquito-surveillance.be. “Their contribution has made it possible to discover new locations with tiger mosquito activity in a timely manner,” said Sciensano epidemiologist Javiera Rebolledo Romero.
No cases of illness following a tiger mosquito bite have yet been recorded in Belgium.
Illustration © PHOTO VALERY HACHE / AFP
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