Katwijk – On October 13, tiger mosquitoes were found for the first time in Rijnsburg, municipality of Katwijk. These health-threatening exotic mosquitoes have now been found three more times, and also in a new location. This is apparent from catch data from the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). Katwijk is the seventh municipality where tiger mosquitoes were found in a residential area this year.
According to the Stop invasive exotics platform, this has never happened on such a large scale before and it is likely that the health-threatening exotic mosquitoes have hitch a ride in the cars, caravans or luggage of residents who have been on holiday in southern countries. The platform believes that the NVWA should inform and advise the public about the unintentional introduction of the exotic mosquitoes much more insistently than has been done until now.
The tiger mosquito originates from Asia and can transmit more than 20 viral diseases, such as dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika. There is no vaccine or drug for many of these diseases, and they can be fatal. Tiger mosquitoes are already established in many places in southern countries such as France, Italy and Spain due to the import of used tires.
On October 13, an unknown number of tiger mosquitoes were found for the first time in Rijnsburg on the Kanaalpad Noord-West (at number 1, 2, 3 or 4). The second find was made on October 17, in the same postcode area. A day later, the NVWA found tiger mosquitoes there for the third time. On October 20, the exotic mosquitoes were found in a different zip code area, across the canal and about 400 meters east of the original site. The postcode area includes the Petronella van Saxenstraat 49 to 89 in Rijnsburg.
Wilfred Reinhold, chairman of the platform: “There are no importers of used tires or Lucky bamboo in these areas. It therefore seems very likely that this concerns people who have been on holiday by car, caravan or plane to France, Spain, Italy or other southern European countries where the tiger mosquito is common.
And that those tiger mosquitoes were then hitched home in their car, caravan or luggage. It’s not just about adult mosquitoes. It is also possible, for example, that the tiger mosquitoes have laid eggs on site in a parasol base filled with water, or in water in which plants or cuttings are transported. This has happened several times in recent years, but not on such a large scale as this year.
The NVWA has spent a lot of manpower and money on monitoring and combating tiger mosquitoes in residential areas. Not only public health, but also the NVWA benefits from cutting off this introduction route as much as possible. Although the NVWA made an information film about this three years ago, it has only been viewed 105 times in all that time. The NVWA must therefore significantly scale up public information to prevent tiger mosquitoes from being found again in so many residential areas next year.”