Invasive Aedes Mosquito Eggs Detected in England

UK Health Security Agency surveillance detected eggs of two invasive Aedes mosquitoes — Aedes aegypti at a freight facility near Heathrow (Sept 2023) and Aedes albopictus at a Kent motorway service station (Aug 2024) — marking the first such finds in the Home Counties. Both species are capable vectors of dengue, chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever. The detections were made as part of a 2020–2025 monitoring programme that used ovitraps at ports, airports and transport hubs with morphological and molecular identification, and each finding prompted enhanced local surveillance and control measures. So far evidence points to limited, imported incursions rather than established UK populations. Experts warn that rising temperatures, milder winters and transport links — notably Kent’s ferry ports and the Eurotunnel — increase the risk these species could become established, as they have already contributed to local outbreaks in France and Italy. Study authors and public-health specialists emphasize the need for sustained monitoring and timely control to prevent invasive mosquito populations enabling local transmission of arboviral diseases.