Researchers have warned that increasing temperatures in the UK owing to climate change could create apt conditions for mosquitoes to breed in the UK thereby accelerating the emergence of vector-borne diseases such as chikungunya, dengue fever, and West Nile virus in the UK.
Leading public health experts Dr Jolyon Medlock and Professor Steve Leach from the Emergency Response Department at Public Health England, have warned that vector-borne diseases, which are transmitted by insects such as mosquitoes and ticks, are on the rise and have spread into new territories across Europe over the past decade.
The researchers have warned that disease-carrying mosquitoes could also become widespread across large parts of Britain within the next few decades as the climate becomes increasingly mild.
More rainfall and warmer temperatures could provide ideal conditions for the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), which spreads the viruses that cause dengue and chikungunya, to breed and expand into the UK, particularly southern England.
Climate change models predict suitable temperatures for 1 month of chikungunya virus transmission in London by 2041, and up to 3 months in southeast England by 2071.
Previously dengue transmission was largely confined to tropical and subtropical regions because freezing temperatures kill the mosquito’s larvae and eggs, but rising temperatures could enable A albopictus to survive across large parts of England and Wales within decades.
Climate change models indicate that just a 2°C rise in temperature could extend the mosquito’s activity season by 1 month and geographical spread by up to 30 per cent by 2030.
“Given the ongoing spread of invasive mosquitoes across Europe, with accompanying outbreaks of dengue and chikungunya virus, Public Health England has been conducting surveillance at seaports, airports, and some motorway service stations. Although no non-native invasive mosquitoes have been detected in the UK so far, a better system to monitor imported used tyres, in which disease-carrying mosquitoes lay their eggs, needs planning,” says Dr Medlock.
The UK climate is already suitable for the transmission of West Nile virus which can be spread by several mosquitoes already found in the UK. However, a low number of mosquitoes and the limited spread of human-biting Culex spp have prevented any human cases so far.
In the future, rising temperatures could make conditions more favourable for mosquitoes, say the authors. Moreover, the recent discovery of the Culex modestus mosquito species–considered to be the main carrier of the West Nile virus in Europe–at a number of sites across Kent could provide a suitable vector for transmission of the virus between infected birds and humans
