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The rat pulmonary artery nematode, Angiostrongylus cantonensis (discovered in rats from the province of Canton, southern China, in 1933 ) is the main cause in humans of what is known as eosinophilic meningoencephalitis (EEM), with around of 3,000 confirmed cases in various parts of the world.

Objective: The presence of Aedes albopictus , of high sanitary and social impact, was first reported in Valencia (Eastern Spain) in 2015. Innovative tools for its control include the use of the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia pipientis . The release of mosquito males infected with the w Pip strain, has proven very promising for large-scale Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) applications. Before this strategy can be implemented in Valencia, it is important to know whether the natural local mosquito populations are Wolbachia -infected and, if so, identifying the infecting strains/supergroups, these being the objectives of the present work., Methods: Eggs were collected from the 19 districts of the València city between May and October 2019. A total of 50 lab-reared adult Ae. albopictus individuals were processed and analyzed for Wolbachia detection and molecular characterization. These actions took place within the framework of a collaboration established with the Department of Health and Consumer Affairs of the city council of Valencia. Fisher's exact test was used to detect the statistical significance of the differences between groups., Results: Our study revealed that 94% of the analyzed samples were naturally infected with Wolbachia . Both w AlbA and w AlbB supergroups were identified, with most samples (72% of the infected ones) carrying co-infections., Conclusions: These data provide the first characterization of the Wolbachia presence in natural populations of Ae. albopictus in the Mediterranean area of Spain. This information is relevant to evaluate the potential use of Wolbachia strains in order to achieve the suppression of the Asian tiger mosquito populations through massive release of artificially-infected males., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Objective: Environmental management of imported arboviruses such as dengue (DENV), Zika (ZIKV) or Chikungunya (CHIKV) is a task of great significance for Public Health since the arrival and establishment of the competent vector Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito) in numerous cities of our country. There are recent examples of autochthonous transmission of some of these arboviruses in Spain probably linked to undetected and / or unmanaged imported cases., Methods: Vector management interventions were carried out in the city of Valencia (Spain) by the Health Service of the Valencia City Council between 2016 and 2018. These actions took place within the framework of a coordination protocol established with the Health authorities of the Valencia regional government., Results: A total of 21 arbovirus cases were reported and led to entomological surveillance and vector control interventions in the city of Valencia: 8 DENV, 7 CHIKV and 6 ZIKV. In 8 of these 21 cases (38%) the presence of Ae. Albopictus was detected within the risk zones established for each case., Conclusions: Vector surveillance and control strategies associated with imported cases of arboviruses, provide accurate information on the environmental risks of amplification of these viruses and also allow reducing these risks through population control of vectors. Due to the short duration of the viremic phases, these interventions should be carried out as quickly as possible in order to reduce the hypothetical contact between the infected person and vector as much as possible.

The spread of Aedes albopictus by Eastern Spain has been constant since its first finding in 2004. Currently the species has been collected in the coastal provinces of Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona, Castellón, Alicante and Murcia. The high synanthropism of the species, together with its anthropophilic behaviour and vectorial capacity to transmit several arboviruses, have led to the return of active transmission cycles of common diseases in the past such as Dengue virus and even the appearance of new tropical viruses as Chikungunya in southern Europe. This manuscript discusses the public health implications of the expected expansion of Ae. albopictus for much of the Iberian Peninsula, in the context of current climatic and sociodemographic situation. Moreover, several issues related with the control of the species in urban and suburban environments are exposed. Finally the preliminary data about other invasive aedines recently collected in the European continent are presented.

The recent increase in immigration to Spain has facilitated the importation of many tropical diseases. Among these diseases, those of vectorial origin are among the most difficult to study. Some of the reasons for this difficulty are the complexity due to the variety of hosts involved in the transmission cycles and the need to know all the physiological, bioecological and biogeographic parameters related to the vector in order to infer the actual possibilities of the emergence or reemergence of these diseases. This article provides information on imported diseases of unquestionable epidemiological interest for the population in Spain due to the presence of several species of culicid mosquitoes (Diptera, Culicidae) capable of transmitting these diseases in our country. Parasitic diseases such as malaria, which was highly endemic in Spain until 50 years ago, and other arboviral infections such as dengue and yellow fever, are analyzed in these terms. Various aspects related to the health system, as well as the different ways of tackling these issues, are also discussed., (Copyright © 2009 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)

In this manuscript we analize the possible emergence and/or re-emergence in Spain of some of the mosquito-borne arboviruses (Diptera: Culicidae) with highest incidence in recent years. The faunistic, bioecological and distributional data of the culicids in our country allow to differentiate between species with ability to maintain the enzootic cycles of arboviruses from others that can act as bridge vectors to the human population. The results show the existence of several common and anthropophilic species as Aedes vexans, Culex modestus, Culex pipiens or Ochlerotatus caspius, with a high capacity to transmit flaviviruses such as West Nile virus or Usutu virus. Moreover the recent introduction, establishment and spread of the Asian Mosquito Tiger, Aedes albopictus, propitiate a new situation for the emergence of possible epidemic outbreaks of arboviruses usually imported to our country by immigrants and tourists such as Dengue or Chikungunya. Finally we discuss the epidemiological interest of other native species as Aedes vittatus or Ochlerotatus geniculatus, due to its capacity to transmit some of these typically tropical arboviruses.

Fifteen of the thirty-one Obligatory Communicable Diseases in Spain, exempting those of congenital or neonatal types, can be transmitted by several species of arthropods that are present in our country. Several arthropod orders are the suitable transmitters of tens of bacteria, fungi, virus and protozoa. This fact demands a through of the biology knowledge of these vectors in order to adopt efficient control measures that allow us to reduce the incidence levels of these diseases. Nevertheless, the epidemiological studies shouldn't remain only restricted to the diseases with active transmission cycles in our country. It is necessary to acquire a global vision because of allochton diseases that are perfectly extensible to our territory in the globalization context in which we are situated. All this information is important to know which factors are preventing the disease presence. The aim is to provide the National Epidemiological Surveillance Network with a valuable predictive capacity that allows it to predict the potential arrival of diseases and the consequent strengthening of the spanish Public Health. The goal of this work is to carry out a review of the spanish arthropod fauna with any vectorial interest. The current situation of some of the more important vectorial diseases in our country and the factors related to a resurgence reappearance and/or intensification of those ones are also discussed. Therefore, the study of these inappealable protagonists in our Public Health as an articulatory element in the complex network that any vectorial disease entails is absolutely necessary.

Malaria was officially eradicated in Spain in 1964. However, at the present time, hundreds of imported cases are registered in our country each year. In this context, the study of the vector is seen to be highly significant in order to infer possible transmission scenarios, whether of a sporadic or a regular nature. Although the socio-economic level of the country does not appear to foreshadow the possible re-emergence of the disease in the short and medium term, the presence of well-established populations of anophelini and plasmodium gametocytes circulating in a certain percentage of the human population does appear to warrant the continuation of the current status of epidemiological surveillance. Moreover, the globalisation of markets and the emerging process of climate change could enable the colonisation of our territory by part of the Anopheles species that transmit human plasmodiosis in tropical and subtropical regions. In order to obtain a more thorough knowledge of the range of fauna, spatial distribution and bioecology of the anopheline Culicoides, a number of intensive larval samplings were taken in the Community of Valencia, a region with sufficient surface water heterogeneity and historical data of malaria prevalence to substantiate the decision to choose it for this study. Five species of the Anopheles genus, with varying degrees of impact in the dissemination of the disease, were identified.