Scary mosquitoes could soon settle in Sweden Sweden

Tropical mosquito species are now moving north across Europe. The warmer climate has already created favorable conditions for the Asian tiger mosquito in countries such as Spain, Italy and Greece.

– It is a very active mosquito. You get a lot of mosquito bites even if the population is not large. In addition, viral diseases can spread, says Jan Lundstrom, executive consultant at Biological Mosquito Control.

Dengue fever and internal bleeding

The black-and-white-striped vampire is a carrier of many different viruses, such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika.

The Zika virus, in one of the last major outbreaks in Brazil in 2016, caused brain damage in newborns. The injury means the baby's head shrinks in size and also leads to decreased intellectual ability.

In areas where tiger mosquitoes have spread all the different forms of dengue, people can be infected with different types at the same time. Then you can get dengue hemorrhagic fever.

– It causes bleeding in the eyes, nose, mouth, genitals and under the skin. You're already bleeding internally. Nowadays, this can be treated well. I do not think that Sweden can be infected with this type of endemic disease, as it is generations away, as Jan Lundström confirms.

A few years away

The first confirmed tiger mosquito was discovered last year in Lidingo outside Stockholm. Swedish tourists then brought the caterpillars home via flowers.

– I think we are not many years away from getting the first bites of Aedes albopictus, perhaps in Scania.

– Within a couple of decades, we could be established in Sweden, and tiger mosquitoes will have time to increase their numbers. Only then can mosquitoes spread the infection, says Jan Lundström.

– It will be difficult for the Swedish government to deal with this new type of mosquito. Lundström concludes that the current government is already finding it difficult to deal with the problems of forest mosquitoes and floods.