The spread of invasive pests to any new region has implications for national and regional public health authorities. For European health officials, mosquitoes in the Aedes genus are of concern, as they are responsible for the transmission of many pathogens and parasites. Since 2016, an IAEA technical cooperation (TC) project[1], implemented with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has supported the integration of the sterile insect technique (SIT) into existing national pest control strategies, to help delay, curtail and contain the spread of pathogen-carrying mosquitoes in Europe.
During the project’s final coordination meeting, held in Athens, Greece in February 2020, FAO/IAEA experts and counterparts revised the work plan for a follow-up TC project[2], to be launched in 2021, with the support of representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO).
High volumes of international trade and travel, as well as rising global average temperatures in recent years, have helped to provide the conditions for the introduction of at least five species of Aedes mosquitoes into Europe, creating new public health risks which will require the attention and efforts of experts from several fields to effectively contain the spread of the mosquito species.
From 24 to 28 February in Athens, 18 participants from 10 countries met with five experts and three representatives of the WHO to review the lessons learned and best practices developed during the first project, and to prepare the activities of a subsequent, follow-up project. The participants discussed how to integrate and use SIT within the context of an integrated Aedes-control programme and explored the possibility of closer collaboration with their respective European Ministries of Health and with the WHO. During the meeting, participants visited the area where an SIT pilot trial was implemented in Vravrona—east of Athens—and noted the engagement of local stakeholders, from municipal community leaders to representatives from the private insect pest control sector.
