Abstract
In recent years, the known distribution of vector-borne diseases in Europe has changed, with much new information also available now on the status of vectors in the United Kingdom (UK). For example, in 2016, the UK reported their first detection of the non-native mosquito Aedes albopictus, which is a known vector for dengue and chikungunya virus. In 2010, Culex modestus, a principal mosquito vector for West Nile virus was detected in large numbers in the Thames estuary. For tick-borne diseases, data on the changing distribution of the Lyme borreliosis tick vector, Ixodes ricinus, has recently been published, at a time when there has been an increase in the numbers of reported human cases of Lyme disease. This paper brings together the latest surveillance data and pertinent research on vector-borne disease in the UK, and its relevance to public health. It highlights the need for continued vector surveillance systems to monitor our native mosquito and tick fauna, as well as the need to expand surveillance for invasive species. It illustrates the importance of maintaining surveillance capacity that is sufficient to ensure accurate and timely disease risk assessment to help mitigate the UK’s changing emerging infectious disease risks, especially in a time of climatic and environmental change and increasing global connectivity.
Highlights
The status of vector-borne disease has changed significantly over the last 15 years in Europe.Europe has increasingly regular outbreaks or clusters of local cases of West Nile [1], chikungunya [2], and dengue viruses [3], transmitted by mosquitoes that, in the case of the latter two viruses, have only recently expanded to large parts of Europe in the last decade
Zika virus (ZIKV), which transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti L., caused much global alarm in 2015/2016 when it emerged in South America, leading to millions of human cases right across the region, including in the Caribbean and North America, and it was implicated in Congenital Zika syndrome [11,12]
The extrinsic incubation of these viruses in the mosquito is temperature dependent, and further modelling is needed to ascertain whether during a hot summer these viruses could develop in Ae. albopictus in the United Kingdom (UK), something that certainly appears to have occurred in France for both dengue virus (DENV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV)
Summary
The status of vector-borne disease has changed significantly over the last 15 years in Europe. Public Health England (PHE) Medical Entomology group, in partnership with colleagues in the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), conduct passive, active, and enhanced surveillance of disease vectors and conduct research, including with academic partners, to inform the HAIRS group and the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP), which in turn, informs the Chief Medical and Veterinary Officers in the various parts of the UK. It is not intended to be a review of all topics, but to focus on the primary risks and emerging issues that have arisen or are current, and to highlight areas for further investigation It is principally focused on infectious diseases that are transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks that concern public health. The potential for such mosquitoes to establish in the UK, which have proved to be invasive and competent virus vectors elsewhere in Europe, strongly suggest that ongoing UK mosquito surveillance and risk assessments are warranted
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
