Scientists in Florida have confirm that there is a new kind of mosquito in the city that can carry a very dangerous set of diseases, including yellow fever. And although it is now only in two provinces in the state, a new article indicates that his series could spread across the Sunshine States.
The new mosquito is known as Aedes scapularis, and its common habitat is the tropics, which stretch across Central America and to parts of South America and the Caribbean. However, there is only one recorded example of it coming to Florida, when larval samples were found in the middle of the Florida Keys in 1945.
But in 2019, entomologists at the University of Florida found samples of this skeeter during a sample collection in the Everglades. In a study done last year, scientists confirmed that the mosquitoes occur in healthy numbers in the provinces of Miami-Dade and Broward. Now, in a follow-up paper, published this month in the journal Insects, scientists use environmental modeling to project it Aedes scapularis could spread along the coast of Florida.
In its habitat, Aedes scapularis has been linked to a number of serious illnesses, including yellow fever, which are almost eradicated in the US; the last outbreak was in New Orleans in 1905. There are also concerns that mosquitoes like Aedes scapularis, which likes to bite humans as well as animals, can cause the flooding events. This happens when diseases spread from one species to another, similar to how covid-19 was probably first transmitted to humans via animals. (To be clear, the mosquito is not a known covid-19 transmitter, so Floridians do not have to worry about it.)
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The new research shows that Aedes scapularis probably came to Florida via human travel and trade, but climate change may play a role in its spread throughout the peninsula. If the temperature is warmer, the bug can reproduce northwards. Although no cases of yellow fever have been detected where the mosquito is, it is known that they carry the disease in their original environment, which increases the risk in Florida.
This is a well-known story, as rising temperatures allow mosquitoes that carry diseases to move backwards. The Lancet recently found that warmer temperatures were responsible for the spread of dengue fever to new places; 2018 was the second worst year for the spread of dengue fever since records were recorded, and nine of the ten worst years have occurred since 2000. Aedes aegypti, infected more than 50 people with the disease last summer. Research on mosquitoes that can transmit the Zika virus has been achieved similar conclusions.
Scientists have also warned that increasingly close contact between humans and nature increases the risk of more flooding events where animal-borne diseases find more and more human hosts. Findings released last year shows that spending just $ 40 to $ 58 billion annually can help prevent dangerous disease outbreaks, which is a fraction of the cost of a serious disease outbreak.
Hopefully, we will not see another mosquito-led public health crisis on the heels of this never-ending pandemic. But if you’re planning on going to Disney World after being vaccinated this summer, do not forget to pack bugs in case.