The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), originally native to Southeast Asia, can transmit Zika viruses and diseases such as dengue and chikungunya fever. The insect settled in Ticino years ago; In 2013, eggs were found north of the Alps for the first time.
So far, no tiger mosquito in this country has infected anyone with a tropical virus. At least in theory, that could change at any time: In Italy and France, several cases have been reported in which people were infected by tiger mosquitoes with dengue and chikungunya fever.
This shows that the insects can also transmit tropical viruses in Central Europe, write the researchers from the University of Zurich and the University of Applied Sciences of Italian Switzerland (SUPSI) in the specialist magazine «Viruses».
Seven virus families identified
For the first time, they have decoded the entire virus genome in over 500 tiger mosquitoes from the Lugano area. The researchers identified seven different virus families and several unclassified species or genera. But the researchers did not find any so-called human pathogenic viruses.
They will continue to monitor the Asian tiger mosquito for early detection of virus transmissions that are dangerous to humans. The tiger mosquito itself can hardly be stopped: Scientists assume that the climate will change in the future in such a way that living conditions in large parts of Europe will develop in favor of the insect.
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