Mosquito-borne viral pathogens (particularly West Nile, Zika, Usutu and Chikungunya viruses) are now important public health threat in Europe. The collection of data on mosquito vectors and diseases they transmit are crucial to understand level of risk that respective country has to face, and to define strategy and actions that need to be taken. The goal of this interdisciplinary project is to initiate monitoring of mosquito vectors and mosquito-borne diseases in a context of globalization (involving environmental and socio-economic drivers). Project will involve entomological surveillance of mosquitoes of public health importance including introduction of dangerous invasive species (mainly ‘Asian tiger mosquito’ Aedes albopictus) as well as epidemiological surveillance of mosquito-borne diseases. From an application point of view, obtained data might serve as a basis for vector control strategy and preventive programs, and could provide an early warning response (in terms of predictive risk mapping) for possible forthcoming outbreaks of exotic viral fevers in Central Europe.
