Experts probe ‘shock’ arrival of mosquito virus in Scotland
Scientists in Scotland have identified the Usutu virus in local blackbird populations, marking the first time the African-origin mosquito-borne disease has reached the region. Experts believe climate change is creating warmer conditions that allow the virus-carrying mosquitoes to survive further north than previously expected.
Why it matters
The discovery highlights how climate change is shifting the geographic range of infectious diseases, posing new risks to local ecosystems and public health.
Share Culex pipiens mosquitoes that spread Usutu virus thrive at around 25C, a temperature now regularly reached in British summers. Scientists across Scotland are trapping Culex pipiens mosquitoes, the main carrier of Usutu virus, to better understand its spread. (Wiki pic) GLASGOW : It was something infectious disease expert Heather Ferguson never expected to see in her lifetime: a mosquito-borne virus originally from Africa spreading in Scotland. But a laboratory result confirmed just that: in April, UK authorities said that Usutu virus had been identified in blackbirds in Scotland for the first time.
The report relies on scientific observations and expert commentary regarding environmental changes.
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