Kampenhout –
Researchers from the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) have not found malaria mosquitoes in Kampenhout in Flemish Brabant. At the end of September, a couple died there from the effects of exotic malaria mosquito bites. That is why scientists went on field research to the region.
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In September a couple died of malaria in Kampenhout. Without going on vacation to a tropical destination. Following these deaths, researchers from the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) conducted a field study in the neighborhood to find out which mosquito species occur.
“The results of that research are now known and contain no surprises. No exotic malaria mosquitoes were found and no native mosquitoes with malaria. The research therefore supports the hypothesis that the couple was bitten by an exotic malaria mosquito that was brought into the country via an airport, ”says Joris Moonens, of the Agency for Care and Health.
The ITM researchers went to great lengths to search for mosquitoes and mosquito larvae in typical nesting sites such as tree hollows, swamps, sewers, ponds and objects containing rainwater. In addition to the house and the garden of the deceased couple, they investigated some 139 such breeding grounds in a buffer zone of 500 meters, including in 23 gardens, in the pools in the nature reserve “Torfbroek” and in tree hollows and the pond in the Hellebos.
No malaria mosquitoes were found, but two native Anopheles mosquitoes, one adult and one larva. This is not surprising since these species also occur in other places in Belgium and are found in breeding grounds such as ponds and swamps. These mosquito types are not believed to be suitable for transmitting tropical falciparum malaria. To be sure, the adult specimen was tested for the presence of the malaria parasite, but it was not found.
“We can conclude that in Kampenhout there is no or at all no large population of the mosquito species that can spread the tropical malaria variant. We have also found no trace of local malaria transmission via native mosquitoes. These results are therefore reassuring and support our hypothesis that the Kampenhout couple died after being bitten by a single mosquito introduced via the airports. We can conclude that the risk of local spread of malaria in our country is still extremely small. It remains important to properly monitor the import of exotic mosquito species into our country, ”says Wim Van Bortel of the Tropical Institute.
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