Category Archives: Mosquitos
IRTA-CReSA will perform Zika virus surveillance in Tiger mosquitoes
IRTA-CReSA (Animal Health Research Centre) is responsible for conducting viral surveillance on the Tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) of different viruses transmitted by mosquitoes by commission of the Department of Health of the Generalitat of Catalunya. Since 2014, IRTA-CReSA carries out the diagnosis of Chikungunya virus in Aedes albopictus. In 2015, this surveillance expanded to Dengue virus. And this year the necessary tools to detect the Zika virus are also being implemented. This service is framed within the “Protocol for surveillance and control of mosquito-borne arbovirosis in Catalunya” which is coordinated by the Public Health Agency of Catalunya.
Viral comments (22): Zika and animals: We do not know much!
The Zika virus is an emerging virus (ZIKV), because right now it rides on Aedes genus mosquitoes colonizing new geographic areas, but it’s been around us openly over 60 years (it is noted on a recent study that the three variants that circulate nowadays, two African and one from Asia, have a common origin back in 1920, but we cannot go beyond that time) and probably hundreds or thousands of years in their natural hosts … which we have not yet fully identified.
Viral comments (21): Dengue virus, another pathogen, now globalized, which knocks at our door
There are a number of vector-borne diseases, those that are by arthropod vectors such as mosquitoes and ticks, which are becoming more likely in our regions as a result of globalization (especially in what it has to facilitate the movement of goods and people), and disturbances caused by climate change. One of these diseases with a high probability to finally settle in Catalonia is dengue.
Hunting for tiger mosquitoes and chikungunya virus
Chikungunya fever has already been detected in more than 60 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. The virus is transmitted from one person to another by the bite of infected female mosquitoes. Generally the mosquitoes involved are Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (the well-known tiger mosquito) two species which can also transmit other viruses, including dengue.
What is Chikungunya virus doing in Catalunya?
Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease causing symptoms such as fever, joint pain, muscle pain, headache and nose and gum bleeding.
