A second specimen of Aedes albopictus mosquito located at Tenerife South airport

The Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the General Directorate of Public Health, has reported a new detection of an adult specimen of the Aedes albopictus mosquito in one of the traps installed at the Tenerife South airport.

The Entomological Surveillance System of the Canary Islands has remained active in this airport facility since December 2023, when a first specimen of this same species was located, a vector for the transmission of viral diseases in other geographical areas where these pathologies are endemic.

In this area, the Ministry of Health details in a statement, passenger suitcases from both national and international destinations pass through, where these invasive mosquitoes are established.

The autonomous administration emphasizes that no bites have been reported and that the presence of the mosquito "does not mean that there will be transmission of diseases such as dengue, zika, yellow fever or chikungunya, since these are not present in our territory, except for sporadic imported cases".

After the confirmation by genomic sequencing of this new specimen of Aedes albopictus, the actions to be carried out by the General Directorate of Public Health and the University Institute of Tropical Diseases and Public Health of the University of La Laguna, as well as by AENA and the Granadilla de Abona City Council, have been determined, following the protocol.

It was in September 2023 when the first detection of adult specimens and larvae of Aedes albopictus occurred in the Canary Islands, in the Tenerife municipality of Tacoronte, and later in a residential area in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where after the activation of the surveillance system and the control and fumigation work, there have been no findings of this species since November.

The Surveillance System determines that the General Directorate of Public Health and the Institute of Tropical Diseases and Public Health will activate inspection work in the area of the finding and the placement of more traps to help determine if there are more specimens in the area.

In addition, the sampling frequency of these traps will be increased.

Likewise, all institutions and companies that carry out their activity at the Tenerife South airport, as well as the residents of the area, will be informed of the actions to be taken and recommendations will be offered to avoid the proliferation of specimens and breeding points, since citizen collaboration is essential in these cases.

Aedes albopictus is a black mosquito with stripes, smaller than the usual ones in the Canary Islands, which appears more in urban environments and has adapted to reproduce in small points of water generated by man.

It usually bites during the day and not at night and its bite generates a strong inflammatory reaction that is accompanied by a great itch. It moves close to the ground agilely and does not produce any buzzing.

The females are the ones that bite, since they need to feed on blood to reproduce. They also need water (breeding points) to complete their development.

In the water they lay their eggs, from which the larvae will emerge, which will then transform into pupae (both aquatic) and which will finally become mosquitoes.

The mosquitoes that bite humans need to be breeding very close to them. That is why the most effective measure against them is to monitor or eliminate their breeding points.

The Ministry of Health emphasizes that citizen collaboration is important to identify possible invasive mosquitoes and eliminate their breeding points.

It requests sending photos of suspected presence of Aedes or images of strong inflammatory reactions from bites if they occur, to the email account [email protected], indicating the geographical location in which it has been located and a contact telephone number.

The Ministry of Health highlights that the Surveillance System is effective in detecting even larvae and eggs of invasive mosquitoes early, before they have caused bites in the population of the island.

In this sense, all the necessary information is being collected to narrow down, verify and, if necessary, eradicate the presence of this mosquito on the island. E