Health warning as horrific mosquito virus might ravage Brit vacation hotspots
Experts have sounded the alarm on a virus carried by mosquitos which could hit parts of England and numerous holiday hotspots due to rising global temperatures
The chikungunya virus could hit Europe (Stock)
An excruciatingly painful tropical disease could hit Europe and various holiday hotspots as a study has revealed higher temperatures could allow the disease to spread across the continent. To make matters worse, the mosquitoes which carry the virus have been found in the UK.
The chikungunya virus was first detected in 1952 in Tanzania and has been confined to tropical regions. The symptoms of the disease causes severe and prolonged joint pain which can be fatal among younger children and older adults.
While the disease is normally confined to tropical areas a small number of cases have been seen in 10 European countries with large scale outbreaks of the virus hitting France and Italy in 2025. Experts have warned the mosquitoes which carry the excruciating virus, named the Asian tiger mosquito, have been moving northwards across Europe.
Shockingly the mosquito has been detected in the UK however it has not yet established a solid presence in the country despite rising temperatures. While there are pretty expensive vaccines against the chikungunya the best protection against the alignment is to avoid being bitten by the critters.
In a recent study boffins found rising temperatures now mean the disease the minimum temperature at which infections could occur is 2.5C lower than previous estimates. The find represents a “quite shocking” difference, the researchers said.
The study was published in the Journal of Royal Society Interface, using from 49 earlier studies on chikungunya virus. The research looked at tiger mosquitoes to figure out the length of the incubation period across the full range of temperatures in a first of its kind study.
Dr Diana Rojas Alvarez, who chairs the World Health Organization’s team on insect and tickborne virus said: “This study is important because it indicates that transmission [in Europe] might become even more evident over time.”
The expert added the virus can have devastating effects on 40% of people experiencing arthritis or very induce severe pain after five years. The doc added: “Climate has a huge impact on this, but Europe still has the chance to control these mosquitoes from spreading any further.”
Rising temperatures have led to infections being possible for more than six months of the year in Spain, Greece and other southern European countries. Also alongside these countries infections from the virus are possible for two months a year in the south-east England.
The lead author of the study Sandeep Tegar, at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH), has said: “The rate of global warming in Europe is approximately double the rate of global warming at global scale and the lower temperature limit for virus spread matters a lot, so our new estimates are quite shocking. The northward expansion of the disease is just a matter of time.”
Dr Steven White, also at UKCEH, added: “Twenty years ago, if you said we were going to have chikungunya and dengue in Europe, everybody would have said you were mad: these are tropical diseases. Now everything’s changed. This is down to this invasive mosquito and climate change – it really is as simple as that.
“We’re seeing rapid change and that’s the worry. Up until last year, France had recorded 30-odd cases of chikungunya over the last 10 years or so. Last year, they had over 800.”
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