Health warning issued after tropical mosquitoes spotted in UK

Amid the ongoing Covid-19 scare in the U.K., a team of researchers from the Health Security Agency has found two species of disease-carrying mosquito.

These two species were discovered as a result of changing patterns of climate change.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), a primary agency responsible for ensuring public health security in the UK, discovered eggs of the Egyptian mosquito and the Asian tiger mosquito in surveillance traps set at airports, transport hubs and seaports.

In the aftermath of this detection, health warnings have been issued following the detection of tropical mosquitoes.

Health experts warn that the presence of these mosquitoes in Europe poses a major health threat, as they can transmit diseases like yellow fever, chikungunya, dengue, Zika, and dirofilariasis.

The study authors noted in the Journal Global Change Biology, “As urban areas become more climate favorable for species such as Ae. Albopictus, the risk of arboviral diseases like dengue, chikungunya, and Zika increases.”

As temperatures continue to surge, researchers alerted both foreign species could spread in the South of England over the coming decades.

However, the researchers found zika, dengue, and chikungunya are not currently endemic in the UK, but rising temperatures may facilitate the transmission of these diseases.

The ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes are flooding and heavy rainfall, which could accelerate their spread.

Researchers from the UKHSA and the Centre for Climate and Health Security discovered non-native mosquitoes in two unexpected locations in the UK: Egyptian mosquito eggs near Heathrow Airport in 2023 and tiger mosquitoes at a motorway service station in Kent in 2024.