Recent rain followed by rising temperatures increases risk of West Nile Virus spreading in south of Spain this summer

The heavy rains of the last few months and the sudden arrival of hot weather have created the ideal conditions to increase the risk of the spread of the Nile virus this summer, as they are factors that increase the population of the mosquitoes that carry the disease.

This is the warning from the Doñana biological station, whose researcher Jordi Figuerola told SUR that the summer season is expected to see a greater proliferation of mosquitoes as the areas with stagnant water increase, which, with the heat, provide the conditions for the laying of larvae and the growth of these insects.

Figuerola, an expert in mosquitoes and the spread of the Nile virus, also explained that the virus is here to stay as it has been confirmed that it is still present in Andalucía. Although sampling so far has detected a low intensity, it could increase with the rise in temperatures.

The researcher pointed out that "there are many more areas flooded with water from the rains and this allows mosquitoes to breed and reproduce at a high rate".

The Doñana biological station is working to monitor the mosquitoes by capturing them in collaboration with the Andalusian regional government and the provincial Diputación authorities in Seville, Cadiz and Huelva, which are the provinces most affected by the mosquitoes that spread the disease.

The Andalusian regional government has stressed that the West Nile Fever Vector Surveillance and Control Programme will make it possible to anticipate the spread of the virus, according to its health and consumer affairs spokesperson, Rocío Hernández.

More than 250 professionals from different sectors are participating in the programme and work is being done to promote measures such as improving the predictive model for assessing the risk of virus circulation designed by CSIC-Doñana, to which the regional government's own data is added and which includes variables such as soil, infected birds and the presence of vectors.

Hernández also highlighted the reinforcement of the coordination of all the administrations and the support to the town halls. In addition, work has been carried out to locate areas at risk, with the cataloguing of 103 Andalusian municipalities at high risk at the start of the season.

This means that these localities must incorporate mosquitoes into their existing pest control programmes and they are urged to carry out a diagnosis of potential mosquito larval or harbouring sites within a screening perimeter of up to 1.5 kilometres around the population centre, also taking extreme precautions for the population.

The opposition socialist PSOE-A political party has criticised the regional government for the lack of an effective strategy to tackle this serious public health problem, with more than 400 municipalities and seven million inhabitants in the area affected by the virus, according to PSOE-A spokesperson José Luis Sánchez Teruel. The socialist called for an action plan with funds from the regional government's own funds for town halls so that they can promote prevention and protection measures for their population.