Filing this next to Murder Hornets.
Health authorities in Paris fumigated areas of the French capital for the first time on Thursday to kill disease-carrying tiger mosquitoes whose rapid advance through northern Europe is thought to have been accelerated by climate change.
Roads were closed and people asked to stay in their homes in southeast Paris during the early hours of Thursday as pest control contractors sprayed insecticide in trees, green spaces and other mosquito-breeding areas.
Such scenes are a regular occurrence in tropical cities and becoming increasingly common in Europe as the tiger mosquito, which can carry the dengue, chikungunya and zika viruses, spreads from its native southeast Asia.
–
The tiger mosquito, also known as Aedes albopictus, arrived in southern Europe in the first decade of this century and has been pushing rapidly north ever since, establishing itself in France, Germany and Switzerland.
Health experts say it has thrived on the continent in part because of climate change, with warmer weather shortening the incubation period for its eggs while winters are no longer cold enough to kill off the pests.
After first being spotted in France in 2004, it is now present in 71 of its 96 departments on the mainland, even in areas close to the northern Channel coast, according to health ministry data.
The Asian tiger mosquito, which can transmit the Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya viruses, has been identified in Michigan for the first time this year.
The finding comes amid an increase in mosquitos to biblical proportions in Michigan after the heavy rainfall this summer and more ticks in the state than usual due to warmer winters.
The Asian tiger mosquito is not native to the state and was first identified in Michigan in 2017 in Livonia, then for a second and third time in 2018 and 2020, also in Wayne County. The insects are commonly found in tropical and mild regions, but global warming gives room for them to travel north, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS).