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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.