{"id":379927,"date":"2025-05-25T19:14:54","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T17:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=379927"},"modified":"2025-05-25T19:14:56","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T17:14:56","slug":"claim-climate-change-could-bring-mosquito-diseases-to-britain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=379927","title":{"rendered":"Claim: Climate Change Could Bring Mosquito Diseases to Britain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by<\/strong> Eric Worrall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malaria was the scourge of early 1600s Britain, during the Little Ice Age, but today\u2019s scientists think insect borne diseases need a warm climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Climate change could bring insect-borne tropical diseases to UK, scientists warn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mosquito experts say cuts in aid will lead to collapse of crucial surveillance and control in endemic countries<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anna Bawden<\/a> Health and social affairs correspondent Sat 24 May 2025 01.31 AEST<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change could make the UK vulnerable to insect-transmitted tropical diseases that were previously only found in hot countries, scientists have warned, urging ministers to redouble efforts to contain their spread abroad.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

Leading mosquito experts said the government\u2019s cuts to international aid would lead to a collapse in crucial surveillance, control and treatment programmes in endemic countries, leading to more deaths<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, the UK Health Security Agency announced the discovery of West Nile virus in UK mosquitoes<\/a> for the first time. The agency said it had found no evidence of transmission to humans and the risk to the British public was low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

West Nile virus is transmitted by mosquitoes and, like dengue fever<\/a>, chikungunya<\/a> and zika, used to be confined to hotter regions of the world. But global heating has expanded the geographical spread of West Nile virus and other tropical diseases into cooler areas, including parts of northern and western Europe. In 2024, there were more than 1,400 cases<\/a> of locally acquired West Nile virus and several hundred cases of dengue<\/a>, mostly in France and Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/science\/2025\/may\/23\/climate-change-could-bring-insect-borne-tropical-diseases-to-uk-scientists-warn<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Gee I wonder how West Nile virus got into UK mosquitoes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is zero doubt that insect diseases have no problem thriving in cold climates. Malaria used to be a horrific problem in the far North.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Department of Geography<\/a> and Faculty of History<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The not-so tropical disease: malaria in northern Europe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mathias M\u00f8lbak Ingholt <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people know that malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that largely occurs in tropical regions. However, it is not so well known that malaria was endemic in parts of northern Europe \u2013 including Britain \u2013 until relatively recently.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike Plasmodium falciparum <\/em>malaria, which today dominates in Sub-Saharan Africa with high mortality rates, European malaria was caused by Plasmodium vivax,<\/em> a species with low mortality. It was eradicated from Europe only relatively recently, in the 20th century \u2013 yet surprisingly little is known about its history, and there is still some debate about how important a disease it was in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malaria, agues, and fevers <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word \u201cmalaria\u201d comes from the Italian words mal<\/em> and aria<\/em>, meaning \u201cbad air\u201d. This was a reference to the miasma theory of disease, according to which disease is caused by exposure to unhealthy vapours that emerged spontaneously. These vapours were believed to have existed in marshes and wetlands, and these ecotypes were stigmatized as very unhealthy in 17th-19th century literature. In the case of Britain, wetlands were associated with \u201cagues\u201d and \u201cmarsh fevers\u201d, and in Denmark and Germany, wetlands were associated with \u201ckoldfeber\u201d (cold fever) and \u201cfevers\u201d in general.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.campop.geog.cam.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/03\/13\/malaria-in-northern-europe\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We are all used to climate disinformation, but I find nonsensical attempts to link the risk of insect borne disease outbreaks to a failure to install enough solar panels and wind turbines particularly distressing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding sensibly to the risk of outbreaks or outbreaks which occur could save thousands of lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate alarmists who muddy the water on this issue, who sow confusion with their dogma, in my opinion are endangering people\u2019s lives \u2013 including the lives of people I care about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Malaria was the scourge of early 1600s Britain, during the Little Ice Age, but today\u2019s scientists think insect borne diseases need a warm climate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":379893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818721,691818056,691825130,691835311,691819945,691835303],"class_list":{"0":"post-379927","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-alarmists","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-climate-disinformation","11":"tag-mosquito-experts","12":"tag-uk-health-security-agency","13":"tag-west-nile-virus","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0RS2130RMN7CulexquinquefasciatusAdults001116.9.jpg?fit=2560%2C1440&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1APR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":380340,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=380340","url_meta":{"origin":379927,"position":0},"title":"The Guardian Is Lying About Mosquito-Borne Diseases in the UK","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/27\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"In a May 23 article \u201cClimate change could bring insect-borne tropical diseases to UK, scientists warn,\u201d The Guardian asserts that rising global temperatures are making Britain more hospitable to tropical mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, West Nile virus, and chikungunya. This claim is a lie. 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