Tiger mosquito tackled at record number of locations, NVWA seeks help with control

NOS News•today, 7:04 PM

The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has started combating the Asian tiger mosquito in a record number of places this season. So-called ‘after-treatments’ are taking place at 27 locations to kill the larvae and pupae of the mosquito that can spread infectious diseases. Because the limits of its control capacity are coming into view, the authority is seeking help from citizens and municipalities.

Last year, the NVWA found the tiger mosquito at 37 locations, 22 of which were in residential areas. Specialized teams then go out to combat the mosquito. They mainly target mosquito larvae and pupae, which depend on rainwater. The teams remove containers, buckets, cans and other objects that hold water. Where necessary they use a pesticide.

Insect inspector Kees shows in Hoorn which places in the garden you should pay attention to:

Insect inspector Kees looking for the tiger mosquito

It is not clear from 27 locations where the tiger mosquito was present last year whether the mosquito was actually eradicated there. “The mosquito season runs until about October and then there may still be eggs in the breeding grounds,” says Arjan Stroo of the NVWA. “They survive almost everything. They can dry out, they can withstand frost and you cannot kill them with pesticides.”

In the spring, the mosquito eggs develop into larvae and that is why the NVWA started combating them again on April 15. The authority sent 36,266 letters to households informing them that tiger mosquitoes appeared in their neighborhood last year and that the authority is coming to combat the mosquitoes. Citizens can help by removing possible breeding grounds.

The tiger mosquito is native to Southeast Asia and can spread infectious diseases such as dengue fever and chikungunya if they are present in the population. In the Netherlands, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) only knows of cases of dengue fever and chikungunya in people who became infected abroad. The RIVM calls the chance of becoming ill from a mosquito bite in the Netherlands “very small”.

The tiger mosquito is smaller than the native mosquito and can be recognized by a white stripe on the back and white hind legs. The insect has spread across large parts of the world by nesting and traveling in, among other things, used car tires and bamboo houseplants. The tiger mosquito was first spotted in the Netherlands in 2005 and the NVWA has been actively combating the mosquito since 2010.

According to the NVWA, the increase in recent years is mainly because people unintentionally bring tiger mosquitoes home from their holiday address.

“People sometimes think that this is exotic misery from the tropics, but south of Paris the tiger mosquito has already established itself permanently,” says Stroo of the NVWA. “If you come back from a holiday in France or Italy, make sure there are no mosquitoes in your car. And don’t take buckets, flower pots or other objects into the house that have been in water for a long time. They may contain eggs.”

Prevention is better than control, says Stroo. “People sometimes have to be patient, because we continue to fight until the last mosquito is gone. We come every month with two to three people and always have to go into the garden. Usually the mosquitoes are gone within one season, but it is There have been times when we have spent four years trying to eradicate mosquitoes.”

The limit of what the NVWA can do to combat it is coming into view. “That is why we are now thinking about how local parties can contribute to the fight, especially in residential areas,” says Stroo. “We are in discussions with several municipalities to see what they can contribute to combating it.”

It is no longer possible to completely remove the tiger mosquito from the Netherlands, he says. “At the moment there are always tiger mosquitoes present somewhere in the country, but we always manage to eradicate them locally. We must continue to do that, because it is an annoying rotten animal that bites during the day.”

“If you let him do his thing, you can no longer sit outside,” says Stroo. “And if someone comes back from holiday with dengue fever or chikungunya, you have to spray the adult mosquitoes in the neighborhood if you want to prevent them from transmitting the disease. This happens in France, for example, in places where the mosquito has established itself. Immediately tackling is better.”