Mosquitoes Without Borders

Going island-wide in Cyprus

Invasive alien species are considered as one of the greatest threats to biodiversity, economy and human health costing the European economy 12-20 billion Euros annually. The rate of introduction of species by humans to regions in which they did not exist previously is increasing, with no evidence of saturation.

Today, malaria is re-emerging in Europe, and we face an imminent threat from invasive mosquitoes and notorious diseases like Zika and yellow fever. Although Cyprus is a suitable habitat for vector-borne diseases, we aim to repeat historical successes, and fortify our defences against native and invasive disease vectors.

We hope for cooperation and collaboration between the public health authorities in the North and South of the island. However, until then, we propose that citizens take and organise a mosquito surveillance programme with the aid of experts.

With this project, we aim

1. to understand the societal perceptions regarding native and non-native mosquitoes in Cyprus,
2. to create a pilot mosquito surveillance network of citizen scientists in the North of Cyprus.

We call this the Aedes Watch Out Network, and we hope to have your support. For more information or to become part of this network, please contact us.

Kardelen	Joanna	Kamil	Kelly