title: Approaches to passive mosquito surveillance in the EU.
abstract: The recent emergence in Europe of invasive mosquitoes and mosquito-borne disease associated with both invasive and native mosquito species has prompted intensified mosquito vector research in most European countries. Central to the efforts are mosquito monitoring and surveillance activities in order to assess the current species occurrence, distribution and, when possible, abundance, in order to permit the early detection of invasive species and the spread of competent vectors. As active mosquito collection, e.g. by trapping adults, dipping preimaginal developmental stages or ovitrapping, is usually cost-, time- and labour-intensive and can cover only small parts of a country, passive data collection approaches are gradually being integrated into monitoring programmes. Thus, scientists in several EU member states have recently initiated programmes for mosquito data collection and analysis that make use of sources other than targeted mosquito collection. While some of them extract mosquito distribution data from zoological databases established in other contexts, community-based approaches built upon the recognition, reporting, collection and submission of mosquito specimens by citizens are becoming more and more popular and increasingly support scientific research. Based on such reports and submissions, new populations, extended or new distribution areas and temporal activity patterns of invasive and native mosquito species were found. In all cases, extensive media work and communication with the participating individuals or groups was fundamental for success. The presented projects demonstrate that passive approaches are powerful tools to survey the mosquito fauna in order to supplement active mosquito surveillance strategies and render them more focused. Their ability to continuously produce biological data permits the early recognition of changes in the mosquito fauna that may have an impact on biting nuisance and the risk of pathogen transmission associated with mosquitoes. International coordination to explore synergies and increase efficiency of passive surveillance programmes across borders needs to be established.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Infectology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Suedufer 10, 17493, Greifswald- Insel Riems, Germany. helge.kampen@fli.bund.de.
authors.forename: Helge
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kampen
authors.affiliation: Public Health England, Porton Down, Salisbury, UK. jolyon.medlock@phe.gov.uk.
authors.forename: Jolyon M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Medlock
authors.affiliation: Public Health England, Porton Down, Salisbury, UK. alex.vaux@phe.gov.uk.
authors.forename: Alexander G C
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Vaux
authors.affiliation: Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands. sander.koenraadt@wur.nl.
authors.forename: Constantianus J M
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Koenraadt
authors.affiliation: Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands. arnold.vanvliet@wur.nl.
authors.forename: Arnold J H
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: van Vliet
authors.affiliation: ICREA Movement Ecology Laboratory (CEAB-CSIC), Girona, Spain. fbartu@ceab.csic.es.
authors.forename: Frederic
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bartumeus
authors.affiliation: ICREA Movement Ecology Laboratory (CEAB-CSIC), Girona, Spain. aoltra@ceab.csic.es.
authors.forename: Aitana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oltra
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal. casousa@ihmt.unl.pt.
authors.forename: Carla A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.affiliation: EID Atlantique, Rochefort-sur-Mer, France. sebastien.chouin@eidatlantique.eu.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chouin
authors.affiliation: Institute for Land Use Systems, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, Muencheberg, Germany. doreen.werner@zalf.de.
authors.forename: Doreen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Werner
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D009033:Culicidae / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005062:European Union; D007303:Insect Vectors; D058865:Introduced Species; D009032:Mosquito Control / Q000379:methods; D011157:Population Dynamics