Home » Health » Mosquitoes and Global Warming: Assessing the Risk of Mosquito-Borne Diseases in Scotland Under Climate Change Scenarios

Mosquitoes and Global Warming: Assessing the Risk of Mosquito-Borne Diseases in Scotland Under Climate Change Scenarios

As global temperatures rise, mosquitoes are spreading northwards and becoming a greater health risk to humans. The University of Glasgow, along with the UK Health Security Agency and UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, has received a £1.25 million grant to assess the risk of mosquito-borne diseases in Scotland under current and future climate change scenarios. The project includes screening migratory birds to spot emerging zoonotic pathogens, such as West Nile virus. Asian tiger mosquitoes are particularly dangerous species that are thriving in Mediterranean countries and are expected to establish themselves throughout England and Wales. Dengue fever, a disease carried by mosquitoes, has risen 30-fold in the past 50 years and now affects 40% of the global population. To help combat this, citizens can take photos of mosquitoes and upload them to the Mosquito Alert app, which tracks their spread to build a map worldwide. The app is available in many European countries.

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