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. 2019 Jan 23;12(1):53.
doi: 10.1186/s13071-019-3317-y.

First detection of Aedes japonicus in Spain: an unexpected finding triggered by citizen science

Roger Eritja  1 , Ignacio Ruiz-Arrondo  2 , Sarah Delacour-Estrella  3 , Francis Schaffner  4   5 , Jorge Álvarez-Chachero  6 , Mikel Bengoa  7 , María-Ángeles Puig  8 , Rosario Melero-Alcíbar  9 , Aitana Oltra  8 , Frederic Bartumeus  10   8   11
Affiliations

First detection of Aedes japonicus in Spain: an unexpected finding triggered by citizen science

Roger Eritja et al. Parasit Vectors. .

Abstract

Background: Aedes japonicus is an invasive vector mosquito from Southeast Asia which has been spreading across central Europe since the year 2000. Unlike the Asian Tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) present in Spain since 2004, there has been no record of Ae. japonicus in the country until now.

Results: Here, we report the first detection of Ae. japonicus in Spain, at its southernmost location in Europe. This finding was triggered by the citizen science platform Mosquito Alert. In June 2018, a citizen sent a report via the Mosquito Alert app from the municipality of Siero in the Asturias region (NW Spain) containing pictures of a female mosquito compatible with Ae. japonicus. Further information was requested from the participant, who subsequently provided several larvae and adults that could be classified as Ae. japonicus. In July, a field mission confirmed its presence at the original site and in several locations up to 9 km away, suggesting a long-time establishment. The strong media impact in Asturias derived from the discovery raised local participation in the Mosquito Alert project, resulting in further evidence from surrounding areas.

Conclusions: Whilst in the laboratory Ae. japonicus is a competent vector for several mosquito-borne pathogens, to date only West Nile virus is a concern based on field evidence. Nonetheless, this virus has yet not been detected in Asturias so the vectorial risk is currently considered low. The opportunity and effectiveness of combining citizen-sourced data to traditional surveillance methods are discussed.

Keywords: Asian bush mosquito; Asturias; Citizen Science; Culicidae; Invasive; Spain; Vector; West Nile virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Current known distribution of Aedes japonicus in Europe as per June 2018. The position of the new record in Asturias has been highlighted by adding a blue dot. Modified from European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and European Food Safety Authority. Mosquito maps [internet]. Stockholm: ECDC; 2018. Available from: https://ecdc.europa.eu/en/disease-vectors/surveillance-and-disease-data/mosquito-maps
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
a Location of the initial report. b The first of the 9 pictures included in the initial report
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Location of the study area in NE Spain and places cited in the detection process of Aedes japonicus. In red, field sampled locations where 0 is the initial point from Fig. 2a. In blue, citizen science reports not field sampled. Greyed sections are urban areas, rivers are shown in blue, and highways are displayed as double-lined paths. Map background data: BCN200 2014-2015 CC-BY 4.0 ign.es, BDLJE 2015 CC-BY 4.0 ign.es and World Administrative Divisions. Esri, DeLorme Publishing Company, Inc
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
a Landscape of location 0. b Breeding sites at that location. Ortofotoimage: FotoPNOA 2004-2016 CC-BY 4.0 scne.es
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Pictures taken by cellphones showing possible Aedes japonicus adults from reports received in Mosquito Alert from locations A-E (see map in Fig. 3)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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