Retrospective search for dengue vector mosquito Aedes albopictus in areas visited by a German traveler who contracted dengue in Japan

Mutsuo Kobayashi; Osamu Komagata; Mayuko Yonejima; Yoshihide Maekawa; Kimio Hirabayashi; Toshihiko Hayashi; Naoko Nihei; Masahiro Yoshida; Yoshio Tsuda; Kyoko Sawabe

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2014.06.005

Retrospective search for dengue vector mosquito Aedes albopictus in areas visited by a German traveler who contracted dengue in Japan

Int J Infect Dis. 2014 Sep:26:135-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2014.06.005. Epub 2014 Jul 22.

Affiliations

¹ National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Department of Medical Entomology, Toyama 1-23-1, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan. Electronic address: mutsuo@nih.go.jp.
² National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Department of Medical Entomology, Toyama 1-23-1, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
³ Ritsumeikan University, Institute of Disaster Mitigation for Urban Cultural Heritage, Kyoto, Japan.
⁴ Shinshu University, Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Ueda, Japan.
⁵ Bio-Research, Osaka, Japan.

PMID: 25063022
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2014.06.005

Abstract

A German traveler developed dengue fever in late August 2013, following a direct flight from Germany. Autochthonous dengue virus (DENV) infection has not been reported in Japan. To evaluate the risk of autochthonous DENV transmission in Japan, the authors performed a retrospective search of the five areas visited by the German patient to determine the population density of dengue vector mosquito, Aedes albopictus. The annual mean temperature of each area was higher than 12°C, which is considered suitable for the establishment of A. albopictus populations. Our retrospective search revealed the population density of A. albopictus to be high in the urban areas of Japan.

Keywords: Aedes albopictus; Autochthonous infection; Dengue; German traveler; Japan; Population density.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aedes*
Animals
Dengue / epidemiology*
Female
Germany / epidemiology
Humans
Insect Vectors*
Japan
Population Density
Retrospective Studies
Temperature
Travel*