Britain is stepping up its defences against the migration of deadly disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Rising temperatures due to climate change have triggered the movement of insects that spread the Zika virus, dengue fever and malaria.
Experts believe an outbreak is inevitable, so the Mirror joined Public Health England to check our defences.
Its four-man national team works with local pest-control agencies to try to stop invasive species establishing a breeding population here.
Single Asian tiger mosquitoes, carried by lorries crossing the Channel, have been detected across South East England. It carries the Zika virus – which can cause birth defects – chikungunya virus and dengue.
Have you seen a mosquito that worried you? Email your snaps to mosquito@phe.gov.uk
Traps now cover 25 wetlands in Kent, Cambridgeshire, The Humber, Midlands, the North East and North West.
We met team leader Dr Jolyon Medlock at a key habitat for the insects on the Somerset Levels, near Glastonbury.
He said: “We are trying to delay or prevent the establishment of these invasive species. These mosquitoes are wily, they lay eggs that survive the winter, and are difficult to control once established.”
PHE also monitors for mosquitoes at 38 sea ports and airports, and up to 30 highway locations. Dr Medlock has a monthly call with government officials.
Another invasive species that has started breeding here can transmit West Nile disease. A single insect was detected in 2010. It has now established populations in Essex, north Kent and the Thames Estuary.
And the team detected a potential malaria-carrying species in the traps during our visit to Avalon Marshes, Somerset.
Dr Medlock said: “There has been research published suggesting the weather is warm enough for the malaria parasite to develop in British mosquitoes.”
Malaria can be transmitted by five of our 36 native mosquito species. But the presence of disease-carrying insects is not enough for tropical diseases to thrive, as viruses and parasites must be able to replicate and survive in their new environment.
Some experts say this could take 40 years, others says it will happen sooner.
