Europe sees “significant increase” in dengue cases due to climate change: Health Agency

Stockholm:

Cases of dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases are rising significantly in Europe as climate change creates warmer conditions that help invasive mosquitoes spread, the EU health agency warned on Tuesday.

In 2023, 130 locally acquired dengue cases were reported in the region comprising the European Union (EU) plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (EEA), compared to 71 in 2022.

This was a “significant increase” compared to the 2010-2021 period, when the number for the entire period was 73, said the Stockholm-based European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Imported cases have also increased, with 1,572 cases in 2022 and 4,900 in 2023, “the highest number” since EU monitoring began in 2008.

“Europe is already seeing how climate change is creating more favorable conditions for invasive mosquitoes to spread into previously unaffected areas and infect more people with diseases like dengue,” said ECDC director Andrea Ammon.

“What we can see is that there is a link between a higher temperature in the summer, a milder winter and the spread of mosquitoes in areas where they are not currently present,” Ammon said at a press conference.

For West Nile virus, 713 locally acquired cases were reported in 123 different regions in nine EU countries in 2023, and 67 deaths.

Although the number of cases was down from 1,133 in 2022, the number of affected regions was the highest since 2018.

The mosquito responsible for the spread of West Nile virus, Culex pipiens, is native to Europe and is present throughout the EU/EEA, the ECDC said.

The Aedes albopictus mosquito, known for transmitting the dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses, “is spreading further north, east and west in Europe and now has self-sustaining populations in 13 EU/EEA countries ”, the ECDC stated.

The Aedes aegypti species, responsible for the spread of yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya and Zika, has recently established itself in Cyprus and several outermost regions of the EU, such as Madeira and the French Caribbean islands, he said.

“It is widely predicted that climate change will have a major impact on the spread of mosquito-borne diseases in Europe, for example by creating environmental conditions favorable to the establishment and growth of mosquito populations,” the ECDC said.

The agency said establishing coordinated measures such as insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying was crucial to combating mosquito-borne diseases, as well as simple measures such as removing stagnant water from balconies and gardens and personal protection efforts to reduce risk of mosquito bites.

(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)