An invasive Asian mosquito that can carry diseases such as encephalitis has been detected for the first time in Western Canada, at a site in Metro Vancouver.
SFU biologist Peter Belton was among the researchers who found the Aedes Japonicus mosquito species breeding in water on a tarp in a Maple Ridge backyard.
The closest the species had been detected previously was in southern Washington and Oregon in 2008, and it has been found in Eastern Canada and the U.S. since 1998.
The mosquito is capable of transmitting West Nile virus, three types of encephalitis andChikungunya, a viral disease that causes fever and severe joint pain mainly in Africa and Asia.
Belton says the mosquito could pose a significant public health hazard in the future if global warming expands the distribution of the diseases it can carry.
"We believe it could be a significant threat to the health of humans and domestic animals and recommend that its population should be monitored," Belton and other researchers said in their -READ MORE-http://www.missioncityrecord.com/news/341889421.html
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