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I'm amazed by the spread of various Asian mosquito breeds throughout the world in my lifetime. When I grew up in Los Angeles (90s/00s) the only time I remember

I'm amazed by the spread of various Asian mosquito breeds throughout the world in my lifetime. When I grew up in Los Angeles (90s/00s) the only time I remember ever getting a mosquito bite was while camping in the Summer. Fast forward to ~5 years ago and there has been a persistent outbreak across LA of the Tiger mosquito and several other species. It's so bad that you simply can't be outside around sunrise/sunset without taking the necessary precautions. We now have a division within the pest control authority that deals specifically with tracking and eradicating them. Two years ago I moved to Southern France only to find it's the exact same story. We're dealing with an airborne virus pandemic now, but I can easily imagine the day when the Global North is dealing with the same mosquito-borne diseases that decimate parts of Africa and Asia.

mvn9 6y ago
By then, Bill Gates will have taken care of it.
- pgz 6y ago
  With 5G chip implants :) /s
Mediterraneo10 6y ago
The global north has dealt with the same mosquito-borne diseases that decimate parts of Africa, inasmuch as malaria used to exist in Europe (even as far north as Finland) and in the southeastern United States. However, efforts were made to eradicate malaria there over the 19th and 20th centuries and were successful.
- bloudermilk 6y ago
  I'm aware of these efforts and just pointing out that it's likely to happen again. Not to mention we won't be able to blanket the nation in DDT this time...
lordgrenville 6y ago
Definitely. I started researching them just because I noticed how much more aggressive they are than the mosquitoes we had when I was younger (including hunting during the day). Most of the literature I found talks about them as possible disease vectors. So far nothing has been connected to them (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2627635/pdf/9284377.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2627635/pdf/928...), but it's definitely a cause for concern.
gerty 6y ago
So many invasive species beside mosquitoes. Box tree moths have now invaded huge chunks of Western Europe. Depending on the year, they can be abundant and have done some serious damage to green areas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cydalima_perspectalis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cydalima_perspectalis
ericbarrett 6y ago
I also live in L.A. and can attest to how nasty tiger mosquitos are. When I was still using our patio, I had eight bites on one foot (they like to go for the lower limbs where you can’t hear them). One of them is still scarred 6 months later.

mvn9 6y ago

By then, Bill Gates will have taken care of it.

pgz 6y ago
With 5G chip implants :) /s

Mediterraneo10 6y ago

The global north has dealt with the same mosquito-borne diseases that decimate parts of Africa, inasmuch as malaria used to exist in Europe (even as far north as Finland) and in the southeastern United States. However, efforts were made to eradicate malaria there over the 19th and 20th centuries and were successful.

bloudermilk 6y ago
I'm aware of these efforts and just pointing out that it's likely to happen again. Not to mention we won't be able to blanket the nation in DDT this time...

lordgrenville 6y ago

Definitely. I started researching them just because I noticed how much more aggressive they are than the mosquitoes we had when I was younger (including hunting during the day). Most of the literature I found talks about them as possible disease vectors. So far nothing has been connected to them (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2627635/pdf/9284377.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2627635/pdf/928...), but it's definitely a cause for concern.

gerty 6y ago

So many invasive species beside mosquitoes. Box tree moths have now invaded huge chunks of Western Europe. Depending on the year, they can be abundant and have done some serious damage to green areas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cydalima_perspectalis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cydalima_perspectalis

ericbarrett 6y ago

I also live in L.A. and can attest to how nasty tiger mosquitos are. When I was still using our patio, I had eight bites on one foot (they like to go for the lower limbs where you can’t hear them). One of them is still scarred 6 months later.