The Zika virus mosquito Aedes aegypti has bred in homes in east London for the first time in the UK, a finding reported through the UK Health Security Agency's mosquito watch surveillance scheme. Control measures were put in place to destroy the larvae, while residents were told to remove standing water from gardens and outdoor spaces, including buckets, containers, paddling pools and plant pots.
The species was detected breeding in the UK for the first time, and it was the fourth time it had been detected. The UK Health Security Agency said the risk to the public was low and said there was no evidence the mosquitoes in east London had caused human infections.
UKHSA and Mosquito Watch
The UK Health Security Agency said Aedes aegypti can transmit dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus in countries where those infections are circulating. The agency also said the species was not established in the UK and could not survive for long in the typical UK climate because it was too cold.
The finding matters because the UK Health Security Agency warned that a warming climate would bring more incursions of invasive mosquitoes and more reports of them surviving in the UK. The same surveillance system that detected this case is intended to spot larvae early enough for control measures to be deployed before a local population becomes harder to contain.
David Smith on biosecurity
David Smith, the advocacy and social change manager at Buglife, said recent reports of non-native invertebrates, including mosquito species, highlight the urgent need for the government to strengthen biosecurity, improve surveillance and address pathways such as the movement of potted plants and soils, through which numerous invertebrates can hitchhike undetected. His warning fits the route the UK Health Security Agency said could have brought the mosquito into the UK: vehicles, baggage and imported plants.
Residents in the area were advised to clear any standing water quickly, because the UK Health Security Agency said the next step is close monitoring to identify and eradicate any further mosquitoes and larvae. The practical test now is whether that early action keeps the finding limited to east London, or whether more breeding sites appear in the same surveillance net.
east London monitoring
The UK Health Security Agency said it would continue to monitor the area closely after the larvae were targeted for destruction. A study earlier this year found that chikungunya can now be transmitted in most of Europe because of higher temperatures caused by the climate crisis, a wider warning that sits behind the UK Health Security Agency's concern about future incursions.
