First Tropical Disease in Europe

I executed a search on ATS for a thread on this article and was unable to find anything regarding this December 23rd article from the NY Times. I am curious as to some experts opinions on this.

“This is the first case of an epidemic of a tropical disease in a developed, European country,” said Dr. Roberto Bertollini, director of the World Health Organization’s Health and Environment program. “Climate change creates conditions that make it easier for this mosquito to survive and it opens the door to diseases that didn’t exist here previously. This is a real issue. Now, today. It is not something a crazy environmentalist is warning about.”

www.nytimes.com...

So, is it Global Warming or did the mosquito 'adapt'? Isn't the Tiger Mosquito in certain sections of the Northern U.S. as well? It seems to be stuck in my brain that they rode over in ships and adapted to our climate?!

Anyhow, this is why I need some of the experts here at ATS to give feedback on this article. I feel it is misleading, but perhaps those of you with more knowledge can set me straight!

Thanks!

reply to post by Lucky Lady

Hi Lucky,
The Asian Tiger mosquito is in Mariland as stated in this article as well as other there. It is a more aggressive mosquito and has the potential to carry diseases.

What is necessary is to have the mosquito present in numbers plus people with the disease. That is what happened in Italy. The key factor is to recognize the disease to be present and control the mosquito in those areas. Mosquito control is well understood so disease control should be possible. One of the problems with the disease is that symptoms are vague and general and not easily diagnosed.

There appears to be an increase in the number of disease infecting bugs around the globe. I have said this several times; I think it is a form of bio-terror. People will ignore it until it becomes a huge problem sitting at their front door. I say stock up on bug spray now and don’t wait for the authorities to make a determination.