Gran Canaria is in crisis as a “yellow fever” mosquito warning is issued to British tourists. It comes after the aedes aegypti mosquito was detected in a trap at the Santa Catalina pier cruise tunnel in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
The area has been the subject of extensive monitoring since another mosquito of the species was found there in November last year, but experts said this was an isolated case.
Following the most recent discovery, the public has been asked to report sightings of potential bugs and breeding sites as well as notifying the Canary Islands Entomological Surveillance Committee.
The mosquitos are black, striped and smaller than those usually found in the archipelago with the islands’ public health authority reporting the bugs have adapted to breed in small water spots.
Officials said that “no more specimens of invasive mosquitoes have been detected after the occasional detection” in the other traps in the port facility of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
The species of mosquito is known to be a vector for the transmission of viral diseases including yellow fever in other countries where they are more prevalent.
It is now thought that Spain’s General Directorate of Public Health and the Institute of Tropical Diseases and Public Health will intensify inspection work in the area to determine if there are more of the species present.
The insects usually bite in the early morning or late afternoon and do not emit the buzzing sound typical of the common mosquito.
Those that bite are females as they need to feed on blood to reproduce and also need water as a breeding site to complete their development. Any pool of water or puddle can serve as a breeding place.
Folk living in Gran Canaria are being asked to send photos of suspected aedes mosquitoes or images of strong inflammatory reactions to bites to the email account vectores.scs@gobiernodecanarias.org, indicating the exact geographical location where they have been found and a phone number.
