Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Exotic mosquito from Asia found in the Netherlands for the first time
26-6-2019
The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has detected an Aedes flavopictus in Lelystad. This exotic mosquito has never been seen outside of Japan and Korea.
The animal was found on June 12 in a mosquito trap at a company, Wednesday announced. As a precaution, measures are taken against all adult mosquitoes and potential breeding grounds at the company and in the immediate vicinity.
The name and exact location of the company were not disclosed. According to Minister Bruno Bruins (Medical Care and Sport), the company is known as a risk location because of previous finds of exotic mosquitoes. The NVWA therefore supervises it.
It is still being investigated how the insect ended up in the Netherlands. Other exotic mosquitoes, including the Asian tiger mosquito, are known to end up in the Netherlands via international transports.
Mosquito not involved in outbreak disease
The Aedes flavopictus is comparable to the Asian tiger mosquito in several respects, but has never been involved in a mosquito-borne infectious disease outbreak, unlike its counterpart.
Due to the limited range, the Aedes flavopictus seems less invasive than the Asian tiger mosquito. For that reason the minister thinks it is too early to qualify the insect as invasive.
"I am reluctant to propose this species as a new vector on the basis of a single individual and to designate it for combating by ministerial regulation," Bruins wrote in a letter to the Lower House.
The government wants to prevent the establishment of invasive exotic mosquitoes that could potentially transmit germs. For that reason, mosquito traps are at different locations in the country, for example in auction halls and at risk companies. There are currently no diseases in the Netherlands that can be spread by mosquitoes.
26-6-2019
The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has detected an Aedes flavopictus in Lelystad. This exotic mosquito has never been seen outside of Japan and Korea.
The animal was found on June 12 in a mosquito trap at a company, Wednesday announced. As a precaution, measures are taken against all adult mosquitoes and potential breeding grounds at the company and in the immediate vicinity.
The name and exact location of the company were not disclosed. According to Minister Bruno Bruins (Medical Care and Sport), the company is known as a risk location because of previous finds of exotic mosquitoes. The NVWA therefore supervises it.
It is still being investigated how the insect ended up in the Netherlands. Other exotic mosquitoes, including the Asian tiger mosquito, are known to end up in the Netherlands via international transports.
Mosquito not involved in outbreak disease
The Aedes flavopictus is comparable to the Asian tiger mosquito in several respects, but has never been involved in a mosquito-borne infectious disease outbreak, unlike its counterpart.
Due to the limited range, the Aedes flavopictus seems less invasive than the Asian tiger mosquito. For that reason the minister thinks it is too early to qualify the insect as invasive.
"I am reluctant to propose this species as a new vector on the basis of a single individual and to designate it for combating by ministerial regulation," Bruins wrote in a letter to the Lower House.
The government wants to prevent the establishment of invasive exotic mosquitoes that could potentially transmit germs. For that reason, mosquito traps are at different locations in the country, for example in auction halls and at risk companies. There are currently no diseases in the Netherlands that can be spread by mosquitoes.