BINEFAR (HUESCA), July 23 (EUROPA PRESS) –
On Tuesday, public health experts from the Government of Aragon and the University of Zaragoza set up a trap in Binéfar to capture mosquitoes and control the transmission of diseases, particularly malaria.
Binefar is one of five sites selected by the Department of Health and the Animal Health Unit of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zaragoza to implement a pilot plan for the surveillance and control of transmissible diseases.
The head of the Food Safety and Environmental Health Service, Antonio Español, and the director of the Department of Urban Pest Research and Public Health, Ignacio de Blas, presented this morning in the assembly hall of the City Council of Binéfar, technicians and managers of the health, agriculture, environment and local police sectors, the Plan for the prevention, surveillance and control of vector-borne diseases in Aragon.
With this meeting, the implementation of the pilot plan began in Binéfar, the only city in the province of Huesca where it will be developed. The other locations are Zaragoza, Utebo, Alcañiz and a municipality to be identified in the Albarracín mountain range.
The traps installed today in Binéfar will be used to combat Anopheles mosquitoes, which can transmit malaria. Every fifteen days until October, samples collected from the traps will be sent to laboratories at the University of Zaragoza for analysis.
The choice of Binefar and the analysis of malaria transmission is due to the presence of many “workers who come from areas where malaria is endemic and may return infected from their places of origin when they visit them. Mosquitoes are common throughout Aragon.
“We are talking about risk analysis and detection of cases of the disease, since they are diagnosed quickly, recommendations to isolate victims to avoid mosquito bites that can transmit the disease to other people, and notification of health centers so that they carry out more careful monitoring of possible cases,” explained Antonio Espanyol.
RAPID RESPONSE PLAN
The meeting also discussed the issue of creating a rapid response plan in the event of a case of malaria being detected among the population.
The mayor of Binefar, Patricia Rivera, stressed the importance of launching “this pilot project. We are very fortunate to be the only municipality in the province of Huesca that is hosting a project like this and doing everything to help health achieve positive results.” for the advancement of science, this is very satisfying.
These pilot plans represent an important expansion of the surveillance carried out from 2016 to date, focused 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.
NEW PREVENTION PLAN
The Aragon Plan for the Prevention, Surveillance and Control of Transmissible Diseases, which is currently in preparation, is an expansion of the surveillance developed so far by the Ministry of Health and the University of Zaragoza. The objective is to reduce the risk of transmission and minimize the global impact of these new 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, constant communication will be maintained between the surveillance departments, the security system and the zoonoses department so that actions can be effective.
The General Directorate of Public Health has clarified the procedure for dealing with people with transmissible diseases. First of all, there is a suspicion of the disease, which requires training and informing doctors about transmissible diseases, mainly according to clinical and epidemiological criteria.
To that end, the new plan will establish a priority scheme for disseminating information to health centres in affected areas in the event of local cases or cases that health authorities consider at risk.
After this, it is necessary to notify about the disease, conduct an epidemiological investigation and determine whether it is an imported or local case, formulate recommendations and measures for its treatment and prevention of new cases, investigate the origin and prevent local transmission through entomological examination. The risk of transmission of zoonotic pathogens to host animals will also be assessed.
VEIN-BORNE DISEASES
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 facilitate the spread of vector-borne diseases include, in particular, increased travel and international trade, which will facilitate the introduction of pathogens (viruses, bacteria and parasites) and invasive species that may act as vectors or reservoirs; climate change, especially increased temperature and rainfall, which may favour the development of vectors; and socio-demographic and environmental changes, which may increase the geographic areas suitable for vectors and reservoirs and the opportunities for human contact with them.
SPEECHES
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.
In addition, it is proposed to conduct educational campaigns on vector-borne diseases, targeting both health workers and technical personnel of environmental services of state administrations, as well as educational centers and citizens’ associations, in order to raise awareness of the growing importance of vector-borne infectious diseases and to raise public awareness of the need for active cooperation in developing plans to combat them.