TITLE:
On the Range of Action of Adult Culex pipiens s.l.
AUTHORS:
Maria da Conceição Proença, Maria Teresa Rebelo
KEYWORDS:
Mosquito Fly Distance, Vector-Borne Diseases, Culex pipiens s.l., Geographic Information Systems
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.12 No.3,
March
15,
2024
ABSTRACT: Mosquitoes are an interesting topic due to their medical importance, as they play an active
role in the transmission of many pathogens and parasites, acting as vectors for
various pathologies that are deadly to humans, such as dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya,
West Nile virus, encephalitis and malaria, among many others that are less common.
In terms of morbidity and mortality caused by vector-borne diseases, mosquitoes
are the most dangerous animals for humanity and, although they also play a role
in the ecosystem as a food source for other organisms, their importance for public
health cannot be overlooked. As highly efficient
vectors, they put more than three billion people at risk, mainly in tropical
and subtropical regions as well
as in Europe, since heat waves and flooding are becoming more frequent and severe,
and summers are getting longer and warmer,
accelerating mosquito development, biting rates, and the incubation of the pathogens within their bodies. Female mosquitoes
bite to acquire proteins for the development of their ovaries and eggs and, in the
process, acquire pathogens and/or parasites from one vertebrate host and
transmit them to another, usually after a short period of replication. Three of
their four life stages are lived in still freshwater, so it is crucial to understand
their range of action when they reach adulthood and leave the water, in order to
plan and implement local prevention measures. A set of georeferenced abundance data collected in mainland
Portugal over seven years was linked to cartographed water bodies in a geographic
information system to estimate the distances at which Culex pipiens s.l. had a significant
presence, with criteria based on the size of the catches. The result allows for
an estimate of the fly range of those mosquitoes, which can be used to focus countermeasures.