Have mosquitoes invaded the UK yet?

Question

just checkin!

Answer 1

If they arrived in Belfast they all drowned lol!

Answer 2

I'm a sleeping target for them and so far in the Surrey area, there's none that have found me!

Answer 3

My dad told me he woke up when i was on a school trip that he woke up one morning and there was one inside the bedroom on his arm but he also said the ones that carry malaria either make a different sound or dont make a sound so u can tell quite easily

we're in belfast tho

Answer 4

yes we have many different species in this country

Answer 5

No, it is probably too cold for them

Only the female mosquito bites to draw blood, and only when they are trying to reproduce; otherwise they feed on nectar.  They use a protein found in the blood of mammals to reproduce.

They have always been a big problem.  In Africa the mosquito spread malaria virus is the single largest illness that strikes all over Africa.  Viral strains like the West Nile have caused the death of many people.  This has probably been going on since humanity first lived in Africa.  Most people got used to the local viral load carried by local mosquitoes, but with more travel they are exposed to newer strains and are so more likely to come down with disease.

It is theorized that the African mosquito was not imported to the US, but a native species bit a traveler who was infected with West Nile and so it entered the population.

The mosquito and malaria problem was so bad that it stopped the French from building the Panama Canal.  When the US did it they spent two years just trying to get rid of the mosquitoes so the workers wouldn't keep coming down with malaria.  This was the plan of Walter Reed and the primary American military hospital is named after him because of this.

According to Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquitoes

"Mosquitoes are estimated to transmit disease to more than 700 million people annually in Africa, South America, Central America, Mexico and much of Asia with millions of resulting deaths. In Europe, Russia, Greenland, Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and other temperate and developed countries, mosquito bites are now mostly an irritating nuisance; but still cause some deaths each year. Historically, before mosquito transmitted diseases were brought under control, they caused tens of thousands of deaths in these countries and hundreds of thousands of infections. Mosquitoes were shown to be the method by which yellow fever and malaria were transmitted from person to person by Walter Reed, William C. Gorgas and associates in the U.S. Army Medical Corps first in Cuba and then around the Panama Canal in the early 1900s. Since then other diseases have been shown to be transmitted the same way.

The mosquito genus Anopheles carries the malaria parasite (see Plasmodium). Worldwide, malaria is a leading cause of premature mortality, particularly in children under the age of five, with around 5.3 million deaths annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Some species of mosquito can carry the filariasis worm, a parasite that causes a disfiguring condition (often referred to as elephantiasis) characterized by a great swelling of several parts of the body; worldwide, around 40 million people are living with a filariasis disability. The viral diseases yellow fever and dengue fever are transmitted mostly by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Other viral diseases like epidemic polyarthritis, Rift Valley fever, Ross River Fever, St. Louis encephalitis, West Nile virus (WNV), Japanese encephalitis, La Crosse encephalitis and several other encephalitis type diseases are carried by several different mosquitoes. Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) and Western equine encephalitis (WEE) occurs in the United States where it causes disease in humans, horses, and some bird species. Because of the high mortality rate, EEE and WEE are regarded as two of the most serious mosquito-borne diseases in the United States. Symptoms range from mild flu-like illness to encephalitis, coma and death. Viruses carried by arthropods such as mosquitoes or ticks are known collectively as arboviruses. West Nile virus was accidentally introduced into the United States in 1999 and by 2003 had spread to almost every state with over 3,000 cases in 2006."

Mosquito detection would be easily done by inspecting areas with standing water for the larva.  In the US we spray an oil mist to cover the standing water and drown the larva thus controlling the population without using dangerous insecticides (yes, oil isn't all that safe either, but it is safer than most poisons).

Mosquitoes are nocturnal (active at night) and are a favorite prey of bats.  They are not attracted by a person's smell, but by the amount of CO2 they exhale.  The bug zappers that used to be sold don't kill many mosquitoes, only moths and other insects.

Their saliva has a compound that prevents blood from clotting so that it can be absorbed through the nose (stinger); most people have an inflammatory reaction to the presence of mosquito saliva.

Answer 6

sorry. i dont follow the migration patterns of misquitoes.

Answer 7

Again people, do you never fill in the box at the side, the one that says "do a little research" ?

Malarial form of the anopheles mosquito have been found recently, ( and last year ), in the U.K. at present there are about 100 cases of malarial parasites being introduced in to GB, every year by travellers, and often there are present in luggage and freight, the present ones were found in Sussex and Kent ), in live conditions, but it is not the only parasitic form of mosquito, and some Mediterranean forms also carry, fevers and have been found in luggage and in colonies here, too......many of the fevers in question are also fatal and at least one form is not treatable, at all...but the most frightening fact, that many people ignore every year is the fact, that there are  Great White sharks that cruise the Mediterranean as well but are not mentioned, by the tourist boards in  this area ! add in the increasing invasion of jellyfish, many that are drifting north, and you are facing a real bummer if you visit these islands in the years to come, when this global warming really catches hold....do enjoy  yourselves......

The facts of history, are, that the biggest single killer of people throughout all our history is Malaria, and it was present in England during the middle ages, until many swamp areas were drained....it was a greater killer, than all the wars combined, and all other diseases as well, and currently the main drugs used to treat this are becoming rapidly less able  to treat this disease, chloroquin resistant strains are an increasing problem in  many areas of the world, and this is/was, the main form of protection as well....

Answer 8

how would anyone know?