At the tip of an iceberg: citizen science and active surveillance collaborating to broaden the known distribution of Aedes japonicus in Spain

Parasites & Vectors

Carlos Barceló¹  Miguel Á. Miranda²  Ignacio Ruiz-Arrondo³  Roger Eritja⁴  Frederic Bartumeus⁵  Ana L. García-Pérez⁶  Mikel A. González⁶  Javier Lucientes⁷  Sarah Delacour-Estrella⁷ 

[1] Applied Zoology and Animal Conservation research group, Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB), Palma, Spain;Applied Zoology and Animal Conservation research group, Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB), Palma, Spain;Agro-Environmental and Water Economics Institute (INAGEA), Palma, Spain;Center for Rickettsioses and Arthropod-Borne Diseases, Hospital Universitario San Pedro–CIBIR, Logroño, Spain;Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF), Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain;Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF), Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain;Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Blanes, Spain;Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain;NEIKER-Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Spain;The Agrifood Institute of Aragón (IA2), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zaragoza, Spain;

关键词: Asian bush mosquito;    Culicidae;    West Nile virus;    Citizen science;    Northern Spain;    Cantabria;    Basque Country;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13071-021-04874-4

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundActive surveillance aimed at the early detection of invasive mosquito species is usually focused on seaports and airports as points of entry, and along road networks as dispersion paths. In a number of cases, however, the first detections of colonizing populations are made by citizens, either because the species has already moved beyond the implemented active surveillance sites or because there is no surveillance in place. This was the case of the first detection in 2018 of the Asian bush mosquito, Aedes japonicus, in Asturias (northern Spain) by the citizen science platform Mosquito Alert.MethodsThe collaboration between Mosquito Alert, the Ministry of Health, local authorities and academic researchers resulted in a multi-source surveillance combining active field sampling with broader temporal and spatial citizen-sourced data, resulting in a more flexible and efficient surveillance strategy.ResultsBetween 2018 and 2020, the joint efforts of administrative bodies, academic teams and citizen-sourced data led to the discovery of this species in northern regions of Spain such as Cantabria and the Basque Country. This raised the estimated area of occurrence of Ae. japonicus from < 900 km2 in 2018 to > 7000 km2 in 2020.ConclusionsThis population cluster is geographically isolated from any other population in Europe, which raises questions about its origin, path of introduction and dispersal means, while also highlighting the need to enhance surveillance systems by closely combining crowd-sourced surveillance with public health and mosquito control agencies’ efforts, from local to continental scales. This multi-actor approach for surveillance (either passive and active) shows high potential efficiency in the surveillance of other invasive mosquito species, and specifically the major vector Aedes aegypti which is already present in some parts of Europe.Graphical abstract

【 授权许可】

CC BY