Detection of Exotic Mosquito Species (Diptera: Culicidae) at International Airports in Europe

Adolfo Ibáñez-Justicia, Nathalie Smitz, Wietse den Hartog, Bart van de Vossenberg, Katrien De Wolf, Isra Deblauwe, Wim Van Bortel, Frans Jacobs, Alexander G. C. Vaux, Jolyon M. Medlock and Arjan Stroo
Additional contact information
Adolfo Ibáñez-Justicia: Centre for Monitoring of Vectors, Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, Geertjesweg 15, 6706 EA Wageningen, The Netherlands
Nathalie Smitz: Royal Museum for Central Africa (BopCo), Leuvensesteenweg 13–17, 3080 Tervuren, Belgium
Wietse den Hartog: Centre for Monitoring of Vectors, Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, Geertjesweg 15, 6706 EA Wageningen, The Netherlands
Bart van de Vossenberg: Molecular Biology Group, Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, Geertjesweg 15, 6706 EA Wageningen, The Netherlands
Katrien De Wolf: Unit of Entomology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nationalestraat 155, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Isra Deblauwe: Unit of Entomology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nationalestraat 155, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Wim Van Bortel: Unit of Entomology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nationalestraat 155, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Frans Jacobs: Centre for Monitoring of Vectors, Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, Geertjesweg 15, 6706 EA Wageningen, The Netherlands
Alexander G. C. Vaux: Medical Entomology and Zoonoses Ecology Group, Public Health England (PHE), Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JG, UK
Jolyon M. Medlock: Medical Entomology and Zoonoses Ecology Group, Public Health England (PHE), Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JG, UK
Arjan Stroo: Centre for Monitoring of Vectors, Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, Geertjesweg 15, 6706 EA Wageningen, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-19

Abstract: In Europe, the air-borne accidental introduction of exotic mosquito species (EMS) has been demonstrated using mosquito surveillance schemes at Schiphol International Airport (Amsterdam, The Netherlands). Based upon these findings and given the increasing volume of air transport movements per year, the establishment of EMS after introduction via aircraft is being considered a potential risk. Here we present the airport surveillance results performed by the Centre for Monitoring of Vectors of the Netherlands, by the Monitoring of Exotic Mosquitoes (MEMO) project in Belgium, and by the Public Health England project on invasive mosquito surveillance. The findings of our study demonstrate the aircraft mediated transport of EMS into Europe from a wide range of possible areas in the world. Results show accidental introductions of Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus , as well as exotic Anopheles and Mansonia specimens. The findings of Ae. albopictus at Schiphol airport are the first evidence of accidental introduction of the species using this pathway in Europe. Furthermore, our results stress the importance of the use of molecular tools to validate the morphology-based species identifications. We recommend monitoring of EMS at airports with special attention to locations with a high movement of cargo and passengers.

Keywords: exotic mosquitoes; disease vector; public health; vector surveillance; monitoring; globalization; DNA barcoding; real-time PCR; species identification; temperate areas (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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