A virology expert has warned about a species of potentially deadly mosquitoes that is spreading in Europe and he's explained how they could hit UK shores.
Professor Stephen Griffin, a professor of cancer virology at the University of Leeds, has explained how the Asian tiger mosquitoes are spreading "profoundly" throughout southern Europe, reports the Express.
These insects can carry 20 diseases, including dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, Rift Valley fever, West Nile virus, and Japanese encephalitis, as per the National Library of Medicine.
It notes that these mosquitoes have hitched rides from Southeast Asia to other parts of the world in shipments, such as tyres harbouring eggs. Yet, there's another factor that could be bringing these dangerous bugs closer to Britain.
Professor Griffin highlighted: "There's very good evidence that the range of those mosquitoes is expanding already.
"You started to see them in southern Europe; for example, in recent years."
Drawing parallels with past outbreaks, he added: "And you could see that from the Zika outbreak in Brazil. It reaches up into the southern US; you know, yellow fever and other things like that."
In response to whether climate change might bring these perilous pests to the UK, Professor Griffin added: "Yeah, I mean there's very good evidence that the range of those mosquitoes is expanding already."
The Asian tiger mosquito is "very robust" and "very adept at spreading" and has been spotted in countries like Italy and Spain, according to the expert. Professor Griffin warns that as climate change continues, we'll "almost certainly see an extension of that".
He also cautioned about predictions that "malaria could return to these sorts of climates". He revealed that it's already happening in southern Europe and ticks are "expanding their host range".
He then delved into the worrying scope of arboviruses or arthropod-borne viruses (which include ticks and mosquitoes).
Professor Griffin continued: "And there are hundreds of different types of virus that cause those sorts of diseases. You know, either spread by mosquitoes or ticks, and yes, that is a serious concern.
"Things like Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, for example, which is spread by ticks, which is endemic in certain regions in Asia. But it's spreading and that's a nasty one."
"And there are so many different versions, but they tend to be these flaviviruses so related to dengue etc.. or the alphavirus is related to chikungunya or bunyaviruses like Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever."
