I sent some news on that aswell some time ago
That’s interesting - if the mosquito is already ‘oop north’, then it seems likely the disease will follow.
It seems to be - for humans - a bit like tick-borne encephalitis (genus Flavivirus) - sometimes almost asymptomatic, but capable of being quite serious.
it is but its worth mentioning though that they have allways had mosquitos in scotland but there not often well studied cause people usualy think the climate wouldnt be right for them to be there. the asutu virus that afects birds and Blackbirds exspecialy is from the bird biting mosquitos.I hope you dont mind but I have done alot of research on the topic and theres dozens on the virus. most of the atention of the news apears to be mainly focused on the southern part of the UK mostly south and south east because the disease was first detected in London in summer 2020 and they were haveing a abnormaly warm summer for that time of year that year it was detected. at first it was restricted to London then it eventualy began to spread and it is currently spreading towards the south east
here are two links I wondered if you might find these two interesting in particular
the disease infects the genus: culex. also called typical mosquitos not just birds. but many of the species in culex are vectors of diseases. culex is diverse but a few of the species in culex that are found in the UK wortg mentioning are Culex pipen (the common house mosquito) or northern mosquito and culex molestus. both pipens and molestus bite birds. Culex pipen is often mistaken for a knat. as for molestus in particular that one is found in london underground railway and is called the london underground
mosquito.
That’s interesting. I don’t like traveling on ‘the tube’ these days - usually too crowded/clammy/airless. But I don’t recall seeing many insects down there.
the culex species I mentioned is a sub species of pipiens. it is called Culex pipiens f. molestus but is also seen in other underground railway systems worldwide and not just in London. the other species that is often mistaken for a knat that is found above ground is called Culex pipiens f. pipiens. it is very similar but there are differances though. that is interesting you didnt see much insects down there. what time of year did you go when you did go? for instance was it during the warmer months or was it during the colder months?
In recent years, I’ve only used the underground occasionally - probably September through to May mostly. When I was younger, I used it year-round but that was many years ago.
Mosquitos tend to be more active during warmer weather. even though it warms up in spring summer is the peak time for mosquitos so it could be that you didnt go during the peak time. molestus bites both people and birds but is found underground and not above ground. above ground the one your likely to come across would be culex pipen pipen instead of pipen molestus. it is suspected at the moment that mosquitos may have hibernated in London and that this is also a factor for mosquitos spreading the disease but it is important to mention that that is not yet certain. what is known is that one of the contributing factors of the disease spreading to the uk that the mosquitos carry cause of it reaching the uk isnt just climate change but due to Birds migrating making it likely to hit the uk aswell as Europe