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E&E News
16-05-2025
- Health
- E&E News
Dengue, chikungunya risk becoming endemic in Europe as mosquitoes head north
A new study published Thursday warns that tiger mosquitoes are increasingly spreading to Europe because of climate change, raising the risk that tropical diseases such as dengue and chikungunya become endemic across the continent. Nearly half the global population is now at risk of contracting dengue and chikungunya, which were once limited to the tropics, due to the warming planet. Both viruses, transmitted by mosquitoes, can occasionally be fatal. The symptoms include a high fever, headache, body aches, nausea and rash. The tiger mosquito, in particular, is venturing farther north as global temperatures rise due to man-made climate change. Advertisement The study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, examined how climate and other factors have influenced the spread of dengue and chikungunya in Europe over the past 35 years. It found that outbreaks have become more frequent and severe since 2010, in line with rising temperatures.
Malay Mail
15-05-2025
- Health
- Malay Mail
Dengue, chikungunya creeping into Europe as climate warms, study warns
PARIS, May 16 — The feverish diseases dengue and chikungunya could soon become endemic in Europe as the tiger mosquitoes that transmit these viruses spread farther north due to global warming, according to new research published Thursday. Roughly half the world's population is already at risk of contracting the two diseases, which were once mainly confined to tropical regions. Both viruses cause fevers and can be deadly in rare cases, spread by the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. The latter, which is known as the tiger mosquito, is venturing further north as the world warms because of human-driven climate change. The new study, published in the Lancet Planetary Health journal, analyses the impact a number of factors including the climate have had on the spread of the two diseases in Europe over the last 35 years. The frequency and severity of outbreaks have increased since 2010 as temperatures have risen, according to the study. Yet just over 300 cases of dengue were recorded in the European Union in 2024 — the hottest year on record — compared to 275 over the previous 15 years. Dengue outbreaks have now hit Italy, Croatia, France and Spain. 'Our findings highlight that the EU is transitioning from sporadic outbreaks of Aedes-borne diseases towards an endemic state,' it said. The higher temperatures soar, the greater the risk of outbreaks caused by tiger mosquitoes, the European research team said. Under worst-case climate change scenarios, outbreaks of both diseases could rise to five times the current rate by 2060, they projected. Outbreaks have been more common in wealthier areas, suggesting that better testing is able to spot the virus — and that cases could be going undetected in poorer areas, the study suggested. The French Indian Ocean island of Reunion has recently endured a deadly outbreak of chikungunya. Tiger mosquitoes can also transmit the zika and West Nile viruses, which were not studied in the latest research. — AFP
