Croatia Gets Ahead of Climate Change Worries with Sterile Mosquito Release
Key Highlights :
Climate change is becoming an increasingly pressing issue for countries around the world, and Croatia is no exception. With worries that tropical diseases could be brought to the Mediterranean nation, Croatia is taking proactive steps to prevent this from happening. As part of a pilot project, Croatia is releasing hordes of sterile mosquitoes into the city of Zagreb in an effort to eradicate invasive Asian Tiger mosquitoes known for carrying disease-causing viruses such as Dengue Fever, Chikungunya, and Zika.
The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) being used by Croatia is a method that has been used for decades across the world to combat various harmful insects. This method involves releasing sterilized male mosquitoes into the wild to mate with female mosquitoes and neutralize the potential for future offspring. In June of this year, 100,000 mosquitoes were released in a high-risk area of Zagreb with thick foliage where mosquitoes often congregate.
The goal of the project is to reduce the population of Asian Tiger mosquitoes in the area. In 2019, a similar project in Greece succeeded in slashing the population of Asian Tiger mosquitoes by 90 percent. During a trial of the technique last year in Croatia's Istria, up to 14 percent of mosquito eggs in the area were found to be sterile, and this number jumped to nearly 60 percent this year.
The presence of the Asian Tiger mosquito in Croatia was first recorded in 2004 after arriving in Europe in the late 1970s, with experts suggesting they made the journey in used tires that arrived in Albania from China. The breed has now spread to more than a dozen European countries, with the Mediterranean region having been hit the hardest. As the mercury rises across the globe, the Asian Tiger mosquito is moving further north, including in areas that were considered too cold for the species to thrive, including in Switzerland and Germany.
Croatia's pilot project is a proactive step to combat the spread of disease-causing viruses brought on by climate change. By releasing sterile male mosquitoes into the wild, Croatia is hoping to reduce the population of the Asian Tiger mosquito in the area. If successful, this could be a model for other countries to follow in the fight against climate change and the spread of dangerous diseases.
