How a plague threatens to become a public health crisis

Two years ago, a group of researchers and scientific advisors regarding pests, revealed that ticks (Hyalomma Lusitanicum) They had become strong in Catalonia. The invasive species It had been located in 3rd municipalities of the region of Barcelona and one of that of Tarragona.

It was, as the researchers repeated by active and passive, a “potential public health problem.” One that did not get control It would be very “Difficult to control” in a short time.

Then, As the researchers explain nowthe authorities prepared to do absolutely nothing.

And the situation has been uncontrolled. If two years ago, the number of Catalan municipalities where the presence of the tick had been detected It was 31; Today the plague has been located In 81 municipalities (55 located in Barcelona and 26 in Tarragona).

What happened? Beyond the inaction of public health authorities, the increase in ticks in Catalonia is not accidental. The Hyalomma Lusitanicum proliferate thanks to The high temperatures of recent yearsto changes in soil uses (which unbalance ecosystems and make them more vulnerable to invasive species) and, above all, To increase the main hosts From this tick: rabbits and The wild boars.

But … Why is this a problem? It must be recognized that, at first glance, ticks do not seem like a big public health problem, but what if they are. Above all, because we talk about disease vectors at a historical moment in which these diseases are just around the corner.

For the Hyalomma Lusitanicum, What most worries the experts is their relationship with Crimea-Congo hemorrhagic fevera serious illness that we detected in Spain in 2016 and has a mortality rate between 10% and 40%. It is not the only pathology (the Lyme disease Or Babesiosis are also transmitted thanks to them), but it is the clearest show of how the plague could cause serious problems in a densely populated area.

And what can be done? At the time, researchers They raised that we had to “start a monitoring program to know the distribution of this and other ticks.” One with sufficient detail to allow elaborate ambitious control plants; something that the Gares Project of the Ministry of Health I would not allow.

But, in reality, the problem goes further: it is something that shows everything that remains to be done. It seems that we have not come to understand that the epidemiological situation of our country (and the world) has changed radically.

The geoclimatic borders containing the diseases have disappeared, the world has flattened and we have to assemble epidemiologically to defend ourselves. What the ticks show is that we are not doing it.

Image | Adam Roscoe | Carlos Pradera & Agustín Estrada-Peña

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