SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, September 4 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Ministry of Health, through the General Directorate of Public Health, has activated the protocol provided for in the Entomological Surveillance System after the detection of three adult specimens and a mosquito larva of the ‘Aedes albopictus’ species – tiger mosquito. – in one of the traps located in a greenhouse in Tacoronte.
With the immediate collaboration of the Tacoronte City Council and the company that owns the greenhouse, which has even stopped its activity to prevent the movement of workers in the area, surveillance has been intensified, also establishing a security perimeter around the area for the carrying out a diagnosis of the situation and location of possible breeding sites, as well as placing a greater number of traps.
The samples by the Medical Entomology Laboratory of the University Institute of Tropical Diseases and Public Health of the Canary Islands (IUETSPC), dependent on the University of La Laguna (ULL), were morphologically identified as specimens that belong to the identification of the species ‘Aedes albopictus ‘.
The work team of the DGSP and the IUETSPC-ULL has already moved to the area without observing more specimens or breeding points in the rest of the traps located in the nearby area, eminently agricultural and without the presence of nearby population centers, reports the Canarian Government in a note.
After these tasks, the number of traps placed in the areas close to the detection point has been reinforced and the sampling frequency has been increased, so that the traps will be reviewed on a weekly basis.
The Permanent Autonomous Committee for coordination and monitoring of the Vector Surveillance Plan met this Monday coordinated by the General Directorate of Public Health with the aim of establishing and implementing the actions provided for in the action protocol as soon as possible.
The Canary Islands have had an Entomological Surveillance System since 2013, coordinated by the General Directorate of Public Health in collaboration with the University Institute of Tropical Diseases and Public Health of the Canary Islands of the University of La Laguna, with the aim of early detecting the possible appearance of invasive mosquitoes.
The island of Tenerife has been monitored for the detection of this type of mosquitoes since 2013 through the installation of 196 specific traps (total in the Canary Islands: 635 traps), 21 of them were installed in the greenhouse where these specimens were detected.
In September of this year, 18 months have passed since the last detection of the ‘Aedes aegypti’ mosquito on the island of La Palma, which could lead to being able to declare the eradication of the vector in this area, as was done in May of this year. 2019 with the detection on the island of Fuerteventura in 2017.
The last detection of the ‘Aedes aegypti’ mosquito occurred last December in a home in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, after which tracking, fumigation, trapping and surveillance were carried out without any specimen being detected in the area since then.
The objective of the Entomological Surveillance System of the Canary Islands is to detect early adult specimens, eggs or larvae of invasive mosquitoes.
To this end, various devices implanted in the main entry points of mosquitoes in the archipelago are monitored, such as ports and airports and certain greenhouses; A bite surveillance program is activated in all health centers on the island and in pharmacy offices and if there is a notification of bites, Public Health inspectors analyze each case through a survey, photograph of the bite and inspection of the home. for the search and identification of the mosquito and its larvae.
CITIZEN COLLABORATION
Since the beginning of this surveillance program, citizen collaboration has been considered very important to identify possible invasive mosquitoes and the elimination of their breeding sites.
Citizens can send photos of suspected presence of ‘Aedes’ or images of strong inflammatory reactions due to bites if they occur to the email account [email protected], indicating the geographical location in which it has been located and a number. contact telephone number.
Health highlights that the Surveillance System is effective in detecting even the larvae and eggs of invasive mosquitoes early, before they have caused bites in the island’s population. In this sense, all the necessary information is being collected to limit, verify and, where appropriate, eradicate the presence of this mosquito on the island.
From the Ministry they point out that no bites have been reported and that the presence of the mosquito does not mean that there is transmission of diseases such as dengue, Zika, yellow fever or chikungunya, since these are not present on the islands, except in cases sporadic imported ones.
The surveillance system team has activated the bite surveillance program in the island’s health centers and pharmacy offices, by carrying out surveys by health professionals in case people with compatible bites come and they can be easily detected.
BLACK COLOR, STRIPED AND SMALLER
The ‘Aedes albopictus’ is a black mosquito with stripes, smaller than those common in the archipelago, which appears more in urban environments and has adapted to reproduce in small water points generated by man.
In fact, it is a vector for the transmission of viral diseases in other geographical areas where these pathologies are endemic, which does not happen in the Canary Islands.
The ‘Aedes’ usually bites during the day and not at night and its bite generates a strong inflammatory reaction that is accompanied by great stinging.
The females are the ones that sting, since they need to feed on blood to reproduce, they move close to the ground and do not produce any buzzing and they also need water (breeding points) to complete their development.
Mosquitoes that bite humans need to be breeding very close to them.
Therefore, the most effective measure against them is to monitor or eliminate their breeding sites, such as placing sand in the saucers of the pots or emptying and cleaning them once a week to prevent the eggs laid by the females from evolving into adults; avoid growing plants directly in water and change the water in vases daily; place empty pots, bottles, buckets, watering cans and any other container in which irrigation or rainwater may accumulate upside down; avoid flooding in gardens, roofs, balconies or terraces, after irrigation or rain; clean and change water in animal drinkers daily; cover the water tanks well; keep swimming pools well chlorinated;
clean the tray on the outside of the refrigerator and the air conditioning devices where water can accumulate and keep the drains in the external areas clean and check that water does not remain stagnant in parts of it.
