West Nile Virus found in UK mosquitos for first time: comment
Climate change is predicted to bring many new diseases to the UK.
By Amber Sawyer
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Commenting on the news that West Nile Virus (WNV) has been found in UK mosquitos for the first time [1, 2], analyst Amber Sawyer at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said:
“This news may be surprising to many, but climate change is predicted to bring many new diseases to the UK [3].
“Mosquitos are one of the few groups doing pretty well out of climate change. Higher temperatures are enabling them to survive further north as well as through the winter in many places. Additionally, extra heat speeds up their lifecycles and those of the pathogens (disease-causing microbes) they carry, while storm-flood-drought cycles create stagnant water for them to breed in.
“The UK Health Security Agency has said that the establishment of the Aedes albopictus mosquito ‘is one of the most significant risks for public health posed by climate change’ in the UK [4] because it carries nasty diseases like dengue, chikungunya and Zika.
“Until we get to net zero emissions to limit further temperature rise, the threat of these new diseases in Britain will continue to grow.”
Notes to editors
For vector-borne diseases like WVN to spread, climatic conditions have to benefit both the vector (the mosquito) and the pathogen (in the case of WNV, the virus).
It’s also important to note that different mosquitos carry different diseases. Aedes albopictus carries dengue, chikungunya and Zika (also viruses). Culex modestus carries WVN.
Culex modestus is already established in coastal southeast England, with modelling predicting that epidemics may occur in the second half of the century [4].
This development is significant because the viral fragments were found in Aedes vexans, yet another type of mosquito, and much earlier than mid-century. However, just because viral fragments have been found in a living mosquito does not mean that local disease transmission has begun.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c77115e0645o
[2] https://www.ft.com/content/9d2319b1-ce8f-4466-895c-a5e26495a023
[3] https://eciu.net/analysis/briefings/the-health-impacts-of-net-zero