With Portugal already identifying the Aedes mosquitoes, responsible for the propagation of diseases like Dengue and Zika (a horror for pregnant women that cut a swathe through Latin America not so long ago), the general directorate of health (DGS) is recommending that local authorities, tourist resorts and organisations in the agricultural and industrial sectors, start adopting measures of prevention and control.
‘Mosquito-borne diseases are an emerging global public health problem that may constitute an emergency in Portugal and across borders,’ says the DGS, emphasising that ’the increase in international mobility of people, goods and animals, combined with climate change, are factors that contribute to the expansion of invading mosquitoes and the consequent occurrence of disease cases.’
The presence of invasive Aedes mosquitoes in Portugal began with detecting Aedes aegypti in Madeira in 2005. The Aedes albopictus species was introduced to the continent in 2017 in the North (Penafiel), in 2018 in the Algarve (Loulé) and in 2022 in the Alentejo (Mértola).
