The tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) has become a problem in much of the territory in Spain. This insect has already settled in all the provinces of the Mediterranean basin and elsewhere in the Peninsula. The problem derived from this mosquito vector of diseases will go worse and is taking some administrations to take measures, some that perhaps do not seem too orthodox.
Fire with fire. The City Council of the Alicante de Elche municipality has announced that it will release 2.4 million mosquitoes To fight the presence of the Tigre mosquito (Aedes albopictus) Between this year and the next one. The key is in the sterility of the specimens to be released.
Aedes albopictus. The Tigre mosquito is originally from Asia, but it has already been established in Spain and other areas of Europe, especially in areas near the Mediterranean. This species, together with its “cousin” Aedes aegyptiwhose presence in Spain is limited, is a transmitter of some viruses, such as those that cause yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya and zika.
Climate change and demographic changes, such as the progressive urbanization of some environments, is making it easier for risk species to prosper in new territories. This may be the case of these gender genre Aedes And also of others, Like the genre Culex responsible for transmitting the western Nile virus.
Radical measures. This week, the City Council of Elche staged one of the loose ones that will be freeing thousands and thousands of insects. The objective is to release, between 2025 and 2026, 2.4 million sterile mosquitoes in an area that expands along 18 hectares. According to those responsible for the projectthe effects of this release will be noticed on a much larger surface, about 50 hectares, both agricultural and urban.
Those responsible expect this technique to reduce the population of mosquitoes in the area by 80%.
It may seem like a pilgrim idea, but the breeding and loose of sterilized insects to contain the population of a species is an implanted measure already in a variety of contexts is the call Sterile insect technique (TIE). The idea is that these sterile males appear with wild females to generate eggs that are not viable.
A list that expands. In recent years there are numerous examples of administrations that have resorted to this strategy. One of the most recent examples We find it in Singaporewhere laboratories raise millions of specimens of the species Aedes aegyptiin order to fight dengue.
These measures have also been implemented for years In countries like Australiawhere they are used to also combat malaria or zika. These types of techniques are used even with other insects Like the fruit fly.
Also in Spain. We do not have to go so far to find examples of administrations that have resorted to this extreme measure. We don’t even have to leave the Valencian Community, where the pilot projects for the study of the TI At least until 2017. In 2023 It was announced the loose of nine million copies by the Ministry.
A little hopeful panorama. A summer that is expected to happen to a rainy spring. It is the ideal cocktail for the appearance of various insects: mosquitoes, bed bugs, termites and even cockroaches. The expansion of certain insects can be a more or less important risk to the health of people that adds more mild inconveniences such as bites or material damage.
But among all the risks derived from these animals, perhaps the role of mosquitoes as vectors of diseases is the most serious and among them the tiger mosquito is one of those that implies a more direct threatbecause it is one of the invasive species with the greatest implementation in the Peninsula and for the diversity of diseases with which it has been related.
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Image | James Gathany, CDC
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