CURRENT STATUS and FUTURE of VECTOR ECOLOGY and VECTOR CONTROL in the EUROPEAN URBAN ENVIRONMENT

Abstract:
Human vector-borne diseases, such as malaria, lymphatic filariasis, and dengue hemorrhagic fever are a global health problem. These diseases affect millions of people in developed and undeveloped countries. Entomologists, biologists, and vector ecologists from North America and Europe share information and work together on resolving problems with vector-borne diseases in the Society for Vector Ecology. Cooperation in mosquito ecology and control has led to formation of the European Mosquito Control Association. The objective of the discussion presented here is to summarize the present status of vector- borne diseases and vector control in Europe. The present and future European environment has vector-borne diseases that threaten human health. Ticks are endemic in the Czech Republic and many parts of Europe, where they are important disease vectors; they are linked to tick-borne encephalitis, Lyme borreliosis, and ehrlichiosis. Mosquitoes are nuisance pests in almost all European countries; Aedes vexans, Ochlerotatus caspius, and Culex pipiens are the most important pest species. Malaria, Plasmodium vivax, is still endemic in Turkey, with more than 10,000 cases per year, and is re-emerging in the Caucasian countries and Russia. West Nile fever poses a threat in countries where Cx. pipiens mosquitoes occur. The tiger mosquito,Aedes albopictus, is a potential vector of mosquito-borne virus diseases, and is established in urban areas of northern Italy and Albania. Unusual abundance of some vectors, such as ticks, or changes in behavior, such as higher anthropophily of Cx. pipiens, in some areas may be attributed to climate changes. In many countries Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis is replacing the use of chemical insecticides in effective mosquito control.