CC.AA Declaring War on Mosquitoes and Ticks with Traps and a Two-Step Plan

Summer is coming and insect-borne diseases are spreading. The Spanish CC.AA has decided to take measures to monitor and control them. The General Directorate of Public Health of the Department of Health of the Government of Aragon and the Animal Health Department of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zaragoza, in collaboration with five municipalities of the Community, are going to carry out five This summer, a pilot project plans to evaluate diseases transmitted by vectors, in particular mosquitoes, midges and ticks.

This action is provided for in the new Plan for the Prevention, Surveillance and Control of Vector-borne Diseases in Aragon, which is currently being developed and is expected to be approved in 2024.

The Minister of Health of the Government of Aragon, José Luis Bancalero Flores, the Director General of Public Health Nuria Gayan, Professor of the Department of Veterinary Medicine of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zaragoza and Director of the Department of Urban Pest Research and Public Health Ignacio de Blas and a technician of the Municipal Institute of Public Health Emilio Martínez announced on Tuesday the objective of these pilot plans.

For her part, Associate Professor of Animal Pathology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Zaragoza, Sara Lacour, explained how the vector trap works, an event that took place in the Delicias Park in Zaragoza.

The five pilot plans envisaged by the Aragon Plan will be developed in five different municipalities:– Zaragoza, Utebo, Binefar and Alcañiz, already in July of this year, and the municipality in the Sierra de Albarracin is still to be determined in September–.

In Zaragoza, starting Tuesday, July 16, they will fight against mosquitoes of the Aedes genus. To monitor this vector of transmission of diseases such as dengue fever, yellow fever, Zika virus and Chikungunya disease, in addition to those already in place, various traps will be installed in places where it is believed that concentrations of these insects may occur. . Its location will not be disclosed to avoid any human interaction or vandalism.

The following day, traps will be placed in Utebo every two weeks to control mosquitoes that transmit leishmaniasis; on July 23, they will be placed in Binefara to control Anopheles mosquitoes that can transmit malaria; and on July 25, in Alcañiz to control Culex mosquitoes that transmit West Nile fever.

In all settlements there is cooperation between their city councils. In September, a pilot plan to combat ticks that transmit the virus that causes, among other things, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic disease will begin in the Sierra de Albarracin.

Expanding coverage

These pilot plans represent an important expansion of the surveillance carried out from 2016 to date, focusing on the tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), which has made it possible to verify the presence and establishment of this invasive mosquito in the Autonomous Community.

Currently, in addition to entomological surveillance in the target municipalities, a pilot intervention programme is being implemented in the municipality of Valderrobres (Teruel).

Minister of Health of the Government of Aragon, José Luis Bancalero Flores, thanked all state administrations and organizations for their cooperation in these pilot plans to investigate the presence of infection vectors in the territory, within the framework of the new Plan for the Prevention, Surveillance and Control of Transmissible Diseases in Aragon.

Bancalero stressed that vector-borne diseases are a growing threat worldwide, mainly due to globalization, the constant movement of people and goods across the planet, as well as rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns, the latter factors linked to climate change.

Early detection to avoid local outbreaks

The Aragon Plan for the Prevention, Surveillance and Control of Transmissible Diseases, which is currently in preparation, represents an expansion of the surveillance developed so far by the Ministry of Health and the University of Zaragoza. The aim is to reduce the risk of transmission and minimise the global impact of these emerging diseases from a One Health perspective.

The main objective of surveillance for these diseases is the early detection of their presence in order to take the necessary measures to avoid the occurrence of secondary cases and autochthonous outbreaks, especially in areas where the competent vector is present, and to report active transmission of the virus at the site of infection.

To this end There will be constant communication between the surveillance departments, the security system and the zoonotic department so that actions can be effective.

Director General of Public Health Nuria Gayan explained the procedure in case of people with transmissible diseases.

First of all, a suspected case of a disease arises, which requires training and information of doctors about vector-borne diseases, mainly on clinical and epidemiological criteria. To this end, the new plan will establish a priority scheme for disseminating information in health centers. affected areas in the event of cases among the local population or cases that health authorities consider at risk.

Vector-borne diseases such as leishmaniasis, dengue fever, malaria, West Nile fever and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever constitute the group of diseases that are growing the most worldwide.

Numerous vectors capable of transmitting these diseases are present and widespread throughout most of Spain: mosquitoes of the genera Culex, Aedes and Anopheles; ticks of the family Ixodidae (mainly the species Hyalomma Marginatum, Hyalomma lusitanicum, Ixodes ricinus, Rhipicephalus sanguineus) and Argasidae (Ornithodoros sp.); and sandflies (Phlebotomus spp.).

The World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) call for a “whole-of-health approach” that addresses the interrelationships between human health, animal health and the wider environment, including ecosystems.

Factors that may contribute to the spread of vector-borne diseases include, first and foremost, increased travel and international trade. this will facilitate the introduction of pathogens (viruses, bacteria and parasites) and invasive species that can act as vectors or reservoirs; climate change, especially increased temperature and rainfall, which can favour the development of vectors; and socio-demographic and environmental changes that can increase the geographical areas suitable for the establishment of vectors and reservoirs, as well as the opportunities for human contact with them.

Performances

The Aragon Plan for Surveillance and Control of Vector-borne Diseases will include actions such as the preliminary identification of areas and periods of greatest risk for the transmission of vector-borne diseases, the implementation of pilot entomological surveillance plans in selected areas, and the provision of technical advice and response to health alerts related to vector-borne diseases affecting human and animal health.