Joint Research Centre (European Commission)

EU publications

Published date March 16, 2018

Toward climate change impact: vectors carrying viral infection: what we should know

  • States that in recent years, due to global temperature changes, two phenomena have been observed:
  1. the migration of mosquitoes to places that have become warmer, enabling them to adapt to new niches and spread to new areas, and
  2. the ability to better survive in different seasons
  • States that the increasing incidence of warm winters favours better conditions for mosquitoes and ticks, increasing the exposure of humans to virus infection, especially in urban areas
  • This report provides the public with four pillars of information:
  1. The first (chapters 1-3) gives general information about the vectors, viruses and the detection methods, and
  2. the second (chapter 4) gives the most recent literature data about their distribution, particularly in Europe
  3. The third (chapter 5) is mainly focused on ZIKV, and compares the recent extensive media attention given to this with the scientific results, in order to avoid the spread of fake news (incorrect scientific news)
  4. Finally, the fourth pillar (chapter 6) describes mosquito control strategies, which includes several tactics for limiting the spread of mosquitoes and monitoring their habitats