An alien in Marseille: investigations on a single Aedes aegypti mosquito likely introduced by a merchant ship from tropical Africa to Europe.

ABSTRACT: Control of invasive species relies partly on permanent surveillance at international points of entry. We report the exceptional trapping of one adult mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) in the port of Marseille, France, in July 2018, during a routine survey conducted according to International Health Regulations. Morphological and molecular identification classified the specimen as a female Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (L.), vector of many arboviruses, absent from Europe and the Mediterranean rim since the 1950s. A world reference panel of approximately 23,000 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms determined that the mosquito originated from Cameroon, west Africa. Cross-reference of this geographic location with boats traveling from Central Africa to Marseille during the trapping period sugge

SUBMITTER: Jeannin C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9479680 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature