The new invasive mosquito species Aedes koreicus as vector-borne diseases in the European area, a focus on Italian region: What we know from the scientific literature

Abstract

The increased mobility of goods, people, and animals worldwide has caused the spread of several arthropod vectors, leading to an increased risk of animal and human infections. Aedes koreicus is a common species in South Korea, China, Japan, and Russia. Due to its cold-resistant dormant eggs, the adults last from the late summer until the autumn seasons. For these reasons, it seems to be better adapted to colder temperatures, favoring its colonization of hilly and pre-alpine areas. Its first appearance in Europe was in 2008 in Belgium, where it is currently established. The species was subsequently detected in Italy in 2011, European Russia, Germany, the Swiss-Italian border region, Hungary, Slovenia, Crimea, Austria, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Netherlands. The role of A. koreicus in the transmission of vector-borne pathogens remains unclear. The available scientific evidence is very old, often not available in English or not indexed in international databases, and therefore difficult to find. According to the literature reviewed, A. koreicus can be considered a new invasive mosquito species in Europe, establishing populations on the European continent. In addition, experimental evidence demonstrated its vector competence for both Dirofilaria immitis and Chikungunya and is relatively low for ZIKA but not for Western Nile Virus. On the other hand, even if the field evidence does not confirm the experimental findings, it is currently not possible to exclude with absolute certainty the potential involvement of this species in the spread, emergence, or re-emergence of these vector-borne disease agents.

Keywords: Alphavirus; Flavivirus; Korean bush mosquito; hematophagous arthropod; nematodes.

Figure 1

Aedes koreicus evidence. (A) The first evidence in the European area (colored area represents A. koreicus first detection along with the first recording date). Red 2008: Belgium (Versteirt et al., 2012); orange 2011: Italy (Valbelluna, Province of Belluno, Veneto Region) (Capelli et al., 2011); yellow 2013: Switzerland (Suter et al., 2015); dark blue 2014: European Russia (Bezzhonova et al., 2014); brown 2016: Hungary (Kurucz et al., 2016), Germany (Southern Germany) (Werner et al., 2016), and Crimean Peninsula (Ganushkina et al., 2020); violet 2018: Austria (Fuehrer et al., 2020); and green 2021: the Netherlands (Teekema et al., 2022). (B) Northern Italy diffusion from 2011 to 2021. Red: Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardia, and Liguria (Montarsi et al., , ; Marcantonio et al., ; Baldacchino et al., ; Gradoni et al., ; Negri et al., 2021).