Scientists in Florida have confirmed that there is a new breed of mosquito in the city that can transmit a range of very dangerous diseases, including yellow fever. And although it is only in two counties in the state right now, a new article indicates that its reach could spread across the Sunshine State.
The new mosquito is known as Aedes scapularis, and its usual habitat is the tropics, covering all of Central America and even parts of South America and the Caribbean. However, there is only one recorded case of him arriving in Florida, when larvae samples were found in the middle of the Florida Keys in 1945.
But in 2019, entomologists at the University of Florida found specimens of this skeeter during a sample collection in the Everglades. In a study conducted last year, scientists confirmed that mosquitoes were present in healthy numbers in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Now, in a follow-up paper, published this month in the journal Insects, scientists use environmental modeling to design Aedes scapularis could spread along the Florida coast.
In their normal habitat, Aedes scapularis it has been linked to a number of serious illnesses, including yellow fever, which has been virtually eradicated in the United States; the last outbreak was in New Orleans in 1905. There is also a concern that mosquitoes like Aedes scapularis, who likes to bite humans and animals, can trigger what is known as overflow events. They happen when diseases spread from one species to another, similar to the way that covid-19 was probably first transmitted to humans through animals. (To be clear, the mosquito is not a known transmitter of covid-19, so at least Florida residents don’t have to worry about that.)
G / O Media can receive a commission
The new research shows that Aedes scapularis it probably arrived in Florida through human travel and trade, but climate change may play a role in its spread across the peninsula. Higher temperatures will allow the bug to spread north. Although there have been no cases of yellow fever detected where the mosquito is, they are known to transmit the disease in their native range, which increases the risk that could occur in Florida.
It’s a family story, as rising temperatures allow disease-transmitting mosquitoes to move toward the poles. THE Recently Found Lancet that higher temperatures were responsible for the spread of dengue to new places; 2018 was the second worst year for the spread of dengue since the start of records, and nine of the 10 worst years have occurred since 2000. Another type of stupid mosquito tourist from Florida, Aedes aegypti, infected more than 50 people with the disease last summer. Research on mosquitoes that can transmit the Zika virus has reached similar conclusions.
Scientists have also warned that closer contact between humans and nature is increasing the risk of more overflow events, where animal diseases are finding more and more human hosts. Findings released last year show that spending just $ 40 to $ 58 billion a year could help prevent outbreaks of dangerous illnesses, which is a fraction of the cost of a serious illness outbreak.
Hopefully, we will not see another public health crisis led by mosquitoes in the wake of this endless pandemic. But if you are planning to go to Disney World after being vaccinated this summer, be sure to bring insect repellent as a precaution.