Global warming has allowed mosquitoes, ticks and other disease-bearing insects to proliferate, adapt to different temperatures, migrate to places that have become warmer and adapt to new niches and new areas (e.g. urban area).
More humans are therefore exposed to viral infections such as Dengue fever, Zika, Chikungunya, West Nile fever, Yellow fever and Tick-borne encephalitis. All these diseases are transmitted by mosquitoes with the exception of Tick-borne encephalitis that is caused by tick-borne encephalitis virus transmitted to humans predominantly by tick bites. For many of these diseases, there are as yet no specific vaccines or antiviral agents.
In urban areas, due to the temperature changes (i.e. warm temperature in winter time) and the egg resistance, they are active in all seasons of the year. The reduction of potential breeding sites (e.g fountains, ponds, water-filled containers) can decrease mosquito abundance, however an early warning system would mitigate the risk.
Insecticides have been used widely in control programs against mosquito populations, but negative effects on human and environmental health due to their toxicity have been well documented. Environmentally-sustainable measures are required to control mosquitoes without relying on widespread pesticide applications but rather based on surveillance data. While a better control of mosquito population is advocated, it’s also important to warn that it would be unwise to remove mosquitoes completely from the ecosystem. They are part of the food chain for some species, and pollinate many plants. Wiping them out completely could have negative effects on nature, and consequently on humans.
CONDUTO ANTÓNIO Diana Sofia;
SANSEVERINO Isabella;
POZZOLI Luca;
LETTIERI Teresa;
2019-01-30
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC112962
978-92-79-96735-1 (online),
978-92-79-96734-4 (print),
OP KJ-04-18-902-EN-N (online),
OP KJ-04-18-902-EN-C (print),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC112962,
10.2760/260352 (online),
10.2760/116651 (print),
| Name | Country | City | Type |
|---|
This document is only visible at the Commission level.
You are not authorized to publish or distribute it outside the European Commission.
This is a public document. You can share this publication.
Datasets
| ID | Title | Public URL |
|---|
Dataset collections
| ID | Acronym | Title | Public URL |
|---|
Scripts / source codes
| Description | Public URL |
|---|
Additional supporting files
| File name | Description | File type |
|---|