First record of Stegomyia albopicta (= Aedes albopictus) in Morocco: a major threat to public health in North Africa?

2017 
The Asian tiger mosquito Stegomyia albopicta (= Aedes albopictus) (Diptera: Culicidae), native to Asian forests, is a nuisance mosquito and is responsible for the transmission of arboviruses of public health importance, such as dengue, chikun- gunya and Zika viruses. It has colonized parts of all continents, except Antarctica, over the past 30–40 years. However, to date, the only records of S. albopicta in North Africa refer to occasional collections in 2010 and 2014 in Algeria. In early September 2015, S. albopicta larvae and adults were collected in a district of Rabat, Morocco. Morpho- ogical identfication was confirmed by molecular analysis. This is the first record of this invasive mosquito in Morocco. A national surveillance programme will be imple- mented in 2016 to establish its geographical distribution in Morocco and to instigate control measures to prevent the establishment of new populations and the transmission of arboviruses.
    • Correction
    • Source
    • Cite
    • Save
    • Machine Reading By IdeaReader
    16
    References
    11
    Citations
    NaN
    KQI
    []