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Müncheberg / Berlin (dpa) - Mosquitoes are increasingly becoming a danger to people, as they can transmit dangerous pathogens through their bites.
This applies to both native mosquitoes and exotic species that have immigrated, said Doreen Werner, biologist at the Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (Zalf) in Müncheberg (Brandenburg, Märkisch-Oderland), the German Press Agency.
According to Werner, scientists at the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) had already identified local mosquitoes as carriers of the West Nile virus, which originated in Africa.
This virus is mainly found in birds and, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), also reached Europe through them.
In southern Europe it has been transmitted to humans in the summer for many years.
For the first time in 2019, the RKI also registered five human infections with the pathogen in Germany, confirmed RKI epidemiologist Christina Frank.
“Last year, 20 cases of West Nile fever were reported, including one death.
As in 2019, Saxony, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt were affected. "
Both scientists suspected a much higher number of unreported cases.
Since there are no clear symptoms in humans, only the most severe cases are actually diagnosed, says Frank.
A further spread of the West Nile virus cannot be ruled out.
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The Asian tiger mosquito, the Asian bush mosquito and the Aedes koreicus, also known as the Korean bush mosquito, have also firmly established themselves in Germany, said biologist Werner.
"The actually exotic species that tropical pathogens such as Zika, Chikungunya or Dengue viruses can transmit can no longer be exterminated and are spreading across Germany."
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210310-99-758235 / 2
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