Sarah Delacour

University of Zaragoza | UNIZAR · PARASITOLOGY

Blackfly populations in Spain have experienced a growing expansion in recent years, which has led to a significant increase in nuisances and caused serious impact on life quality in areas where these insects have become a real pest (Ruiz-Arrondo et al., 2014).

Abstract Understanding how life is adapting to urban environments represents an important challenge in evolutionary biology. Here we investigate a widely cited example of urban adaptation, Culex pipiens form molestus, also known as the London Underground Mosquito. Population genomic analysis of ~350 contemporary and historical samples counter the p...

The diversity and abundance of vectors are essential parameters in the transmission dynamics of West Nile virus (WNV) between its avian reservoirs and clinically susceptible mammalian species. Knowing the determinants of vector abundance could be thus useful in preventing West Nile fever (WNF) cases and associated socio-economic impact. We designed...

The mosquito microbiome significantly influences vector competence, including in Aedes albopictus, a globally invasive vector. Describing the microbiome and Wolbachia strains of Ae. albopictus from different regions can guide area-specific control strategies. Mosquito samples from Spain and São Tomé were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and...

Canine leishmaniosis, caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania infantum, is a cosmopolitan vector-borne zoonosis, transmitted principally by Phlebotomus perniciosus in Spain and Portugal, where it is considered an endemic disease. Ecoinformatics tools such as ecological niche models (ENM) have been successfully tested to model the distribution o...

Malaria remains one of the most important infectious diseases globally due to its high incidence and mortality rates. The influx of infected cases from endemic to non-endemic malaria regions like Europe has resulted in a public health concern over sporadic local outbreaks. This is facilitated by the continued presence of competent Anopheles vectors...

The mosquito microbiome significantly influences vector competence, including in Aedes albopictus , a globally invasive ectoparasite. Describing the microbiome and Wolbachia strains of Ae. albopictus from different regions can guide area-specific control strategies. Mosquito samples from Spain and São Tomé were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequenci...

For a better understanding of the transmission cycles of mosquito-borne diseases, it is essential to explore the species composition and population dynamics, mainly during their peak abundance period. These investigations do not normally include peri-urban areas, despite their significant epidemiological interest. To address these gaps, an entomolo...

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a zoonotic vector-borne disease mainly transmitted by mosquitoes, and present in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Indian Ocean. The endemic situation in Mauritania, and the recent outbreaks in Libya have raised concerns about the potential spread of the virus in the Mediterranean Basin, where competent mosquitoes ar...

The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, is one of the most invasive species in the world. Native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, over the past 30 years it has rapidly spread throughout tropical and temperate regions of the world. Its dramatic expansion has resulted in public health concerns as a consequence of its vector competence f...

Transfluthrin is a volatile pyrethroid based on polyfluorinated benzyl alcohol that is commonly present in household insecticides like coils, electric vaporizers or aerosols used mainly against mosquitoes. Deployed into the air Transfluthrin exerts short-term effects. Due to its molecular structure, pyrethroid resistance breaking properties have be...

The efficacy of polymers (paints) enriched with microencapsulated insecticides against Aedes albopictus was evaluated under laboratory conditions using the forced contact technique (WHO). Three types of paints were evaluated: pyrethroids (PY), organophosphates (OP) and pyriproxyfen (PPF). These paints were applied on two types of surfaces and at tw...

Background Colonization of large part of Europe by the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus is causing autochthonous transmission of chikungunya and dengue exotic arboviruses. While pyrethroids are recommended only to reduce/limit transmission, they are widely implemented to reduce biting nuisance and to control agricultural pests, increasing the...

The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus , is a highly invasive species that has been spreading rapidly throughout tropical and temperate regions worldwide since the late 1970s. On the Iberian Peninsula, it was first recorded in 2004 near Barcelona. Since then, the species has spread along the Mediterranean coast and is now colonising the Peninsu...

Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) are the natural vectors of Leishmania spp. (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) and phleboviruses (Bunyavirales: Phenuiviridae). In Spain, these vectors appear to be increasing their geographical distribution and have serious repercussions on public and veterinary health, encouraging studies of sand flie...

Human and animal vector-borne diseases, particularly mosquito-borne diseases, are emerging or re-emerging worldwide. Six Aedes invasive mosquito (AIM) species were introduced to Europe since the 1970s: Aedes aegypti, Ae. albopictus, Ae. japonicus, Ae. koreicus, Ae. atropalpus and Ae. triseriatus. Here, we report the results of AIMSurv2020, the firs...

The Mosquito Alert dataset includes occurrence records of adult mosquitoes collected worldwide in 2014–2020 through Mosquito Alert, a citizen science system for investigating and managing disease-carrying mosquitoes. Records are linked to citizen science-submitted photographs and validated by entomologists to determine the presence of five targeted...

Background The ‘snow-melt mosquito’ aedes (rusticoidus) refiki is a rare species with a wide distribution in Europe that is usually defined as an aggressive mosquito for mammals, including humans. During a mosquito survey in a peri-urban area in south-central mainland Spain, adult Ae. refiki females were captured and identified by morphological tra...

Purpose: Haematophagous Diptera, such as mosquitoes (Culicidae), biting midges (Ceratopogonidae), and black flies (Simuliidae), are important insects for public and animal health due to their capacity to bite and transmit pathogens. Outdoor recreation areas are usually affected by biting species and provide suitable habitats to both adult and imma...

En 2016 se estableció un sistema anual de vigilancia entomológica para la detección de Aedes albopictus en la comunidad autónoma de La Rioja. En el verano de 2020, se detectó por primera vez la presencia de huevos en una zona urbana, lo que constituye el primer registro de esta especie en la región. La identificación de este mosquito invasor supone...

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) is caused by a lagovirus mainly affecting European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), although other European and North American lagomorph species are also susceptible to fatal infection by the new viral variant RHDV2/b. In the present work, direct mechanical transmission of the rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV2...

Background Active surveillance aimed at the early detection of invasive mosquito species is usually focused on seaports and airports as points of entry, and along road networks as dispersion paths. In a number of cases, however, the first detections of colonizing populations are made by citizens, either because the species has already moved beyond...

An important element of vector control and surveillance of mosquito-borne diseases is updated information on vector species distribution. The aim of this study was to collect available information about mosquito species reported in Extremadura between 1920 and 2020 and create a catalog that would combine both published data and our recent field ide...

Phlebotomus (Transphlebotomus) mascittii Grassi, 1908 (Diptera: Psychodidae) has been found in several European countries. In Spain, sporadic records were reported in the early '80s in Catalonia (Northeast Spain), and it was never detected again. Recent entomological surveys carried out between 2004 and 2020 revealed the presence of several specime...

Resumen: Se aportan los resultados del muestreo de culícidofauna realizado durante los meses de agosto a octubre de 2019 en la isla de Menorca (Islas Baleares). Se emplearon diversas metodologías de muestreo, como trampas tipo CDC, ovitrampas y prospección de focos larvarios. Se han identificado un total de 7 especies de culícidos en la isla de Men...

Changes in environmental conditions, whether related or not to human activities, are continuously modifying the geographic distribution of vectors, which in turn affects the dynamics and distribution of vector-borne infectious diseases. Determining the main ecological drivers of vector distribution and how predicted changes in these drivers may alt...

1) Background: Aedes albopictus has rapidly expanded throughout Europe, becoming a public health concern in the Mediterranean Basin. 2) Methods: Following the detection of Ae. albopictus in the southwestern French region of Aquitaine in 2012, an entomological surveillance programme was implemented in the Basque Country (Northern Spain) in 2013. 3)...

On October 3rd 2018, dengue virus (DENV) infection was confirmed in three family members (symptoms onset between August 18th and 27st) without travel history outside of Spain. They had been together in the Autonomous Communities (AC) of Murcia and Andalusia. By the end of October, a second cluster of two dengue cases (symptoms onset on September 27...

Background A number of mosquito-borne viruses such as dengue virus (DENV), Usutu virus (USUV), West Nile virus (WNV) are autochthonously transmitted in Europe and six invasive mosquito species have been detected in this temperate region. This has increased the risk for the emergence of further mosquito-borne diseases. However, there is a paucity of...

Background: Aedes japonicus is an invasive vector mosquito from Southeast Asia which has been spreading across central Europe since the year 2000. Unlike the Asian Tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) present in Spain since 2004, there has been no record of Ae. japonicus in the country until now. Results: Here, we report the first detection of Ae. jap...

Background Leishmania infantum is the parasite responsible for the disease in humans known as zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (ZVL). Dogs are considered the main domestic reservoir of ZVL and sand flies are the proven vectors. The use of systemic insecticides in dogs has been studied as an alternative strategy to control ZVL in endemic areas. One s...

Citizen science and biodiversity: first record of Aedes (Fredwardsius) vittatus (Bigot, 1861) (Diptera, Culicidae) in Galicia, by the means of the Mosquito Alert platform We present here the first record of Aedes (Fredwardsius) vittatus (Bigot, 1861) in the autonomous region of Galicia, obtained by the means of the citizen science project Mosquito...

Recent outbreaks of Zika, chikungunya and dengue highlight the importance of better understanding the spread of disease-carrying mosquitoes across multiple spatio-temporal scales. Traditional surveillance tools are limited by jurisdictional boundaries and cost constraints. Here we show how a scalable citizen science system can solve this problem by...

The invasive mosquito, Aedes albopictus, found in Spain since 2004, is a competent vector of yellow fever, Zika, dengue, and chikungunya viruses among other diseases. Although controversial, the use of adulticiding is a relevant tool for vector control and could be crucial for the management of any possible outbreak of imported diseases. We present...

Recently it has been shown that the wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) could be an appropriate reservoir of Leishmania infantum in Spain. The main vector of Leishmaniasis in Spain is Phlebotomus perniciosus. This species feeds on wild rabbit and can easily become infested. Indeed, studies of blood meal preferences show strong evidence that rabbits...

Abstract: The Asian tiger mosquito is an invasive species showing a continuous expansion in the Mediterranean basin in general and in Spain in particular. The first detection of Aedes albopictus in mainland Spain was reported in 2004. Eight years later, in 2012, this mosquito species was detected in the Balearic archipelago, specifically on Majorca...

A la vista de los datos del proyecto de ciencia ciudadana AtrapaelTigre, se consideró oportuno realizar un estudio de campo en la ciudad de Huesca (Aragón, España), resultando en el primer registro de mosquito tigre para esta ciudad y comunidad autónoma. In the light of data from the AtrapaelTigre project, a survey was conducted in the city of Hues...

This is the codes used for all analysis in the paper Citizen Science Against Globalized Mosquito-Borne Diseases, by John R.B. Palmer, Aitana Oltra, Francisco Collantes, Juan Antonio Delgado, Javier Lucientes, Sarah Delacour, Mikel Bengoa, Roger Eritja, Mosquito Alert Community, and Frederic Bartumeus. The code relies on the data archived at: http:/...

Ten years have gone by since the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus was recorded for the first time in Spain. In this paper, all relevant published information about this vector in Spain for the period 2004–2014 is reviewed. The known distribution for 2014 is provided, including all historical records (published and unpublished data) and the res...

Fig. 1: map and table of sampled municipalities showing the number of placed ovitraps in every municipality. Updated distribution of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Spain: new findings in the mainland Spanish Levante, 2013. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 09/2014; 109(6).

Fig. 2: map of sampled municipalities showing positive and negatives ones for Aedes albopictus presence. Table of positive municipalities. The municipality of Real de Gandía (blue arrow) is coloured as positive following Bueno-Marí et al. (2013). Updated distribution of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Spain: new findings in the mainland Sp...

Aedes (Stegomya) albopictus is an invasive mosquito native to tropical areas in Southeast Asia. It is an important vector of several pathogens of public and veterinary health significance. In 2004 this mosquito was recorded for the first time in Spain (Catalonia) and detected in Majorca (Balearic Islands) in 2012. In this paper, we report for the f...

Aedes (Stegomya) albopictus is an invasive mosquito native to tropical areas in Southeast Asia. It is an important vector of several pathogens of public and veterinary health significance. In 2004 this mosquito was recorded for the first time in Spain (Catalonia) and detected in Majorca (Balearic Islands) in 2012. In this paper, we report for the f...

Blackfly populations in Spain have experienced a growing expansion in recent years, which has led to a significant increase in nuisances and caused serious impact on life quality in areas where these insects have become a real pest (Ruiz-Arrondo et al., 2014).

The project " Entomological surveillance at airports and ports against imported vectors of exotic infectious diseases and surveillance of potential indigenous vectors of such diseases'' (supported by the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equity of Spain) began in 2008 and includes the search of the range of Aedes albopictus in Spain, but it d...

After the recent detection of Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1894) in Southwestern France, the entomological surveillance in the Basque Country, since 2013, has found two positive traps in Irun (Guipuzkoa). The differences in environmental conditions, which could influence its establishment, between this area and the Spa- nish Levante populations are dis...

A partir de los datos proporcionados por los ciudadanos sobre la posible presencia de mosquito tigre a través de la innovadora apli-cación Tigatrapp del proyecto AtrapaelTigre.com, se ratifica la presencia de esta especie invasora en el municipio de Alhaurín de la Torre (Málaga). Este trabajo representa la primera cita del vector potencial Aedes al...

In 2004, Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse, 1894) was observed for the first time in Catalonia, northeastern Spain. A decade later, it has spread throughout the eastern Mediterranean region of the country and the Balearic Islands. Framed within a national surveillance project, we present the results of monitoring in 2013 in the autonomous communi...

Los simúlidos o moscas negras se limitaban hasta hace unos años a formar parte únicamente del ecosistema fluvial de los ríos españoles, siendo estudiados hasta entonces desde un punto de vista limnológico. En las dos últimas décadas se está produciendo un incremento poblacional de estos insectos, lo que está permitiendo a su vez la colonización de...

This is the first record about the continuity of reproductive cycle of Aedes albopictus in winter for Europe. Also the variable rainfall in-cluded in the risk models for suitability of Asian tiger mosquito is discussed. We think that local water availability for this insects is not always rainfall dependent. Primer registro de reproducción al aire...

Resumen: Se presenta el primer estudio faunístico sobre los Culicoides (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) de la comunidad autónoma de Aragón, noreste de España. En este trabajo se han identificado 19 especies, de las cuales 17 son primeras citas para esta comunidad, pertenecientes a 7 subgéneros diferentes más un grupo misceláneo. El material se recogió du...

Framed within the project “Entomological surveillance at airports and ports against vectors of imported infectious diseases, and sur- veillance of potential native vectors of these diseases”, on Septem- ber 2011 Aedes albopictus (Diptera, Culicidae) is reported for the first time in the province of Valencia in the coastal municipalities of Sueca, C...

A faunistic study of the simuliids of the Flumen river in Los Monegros (Huesca) was performed based on the identification of 135 collected specimens of larvae, cocoons and pupae. Sampling began in May 2001 and lasted until June 2002, and sampling frequency was twice a month. A total of six species distributed in four subgenera were collected: Simul...

Two gynandromorphs of Culex theileri are described. The individuals were caught in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention miniature light traps in the municipality of Alcollarin, Cáceres, Spain, in 2011. One of the specimens presented polar gynandromorphism, whereas the other showed a combination of polar and transverse gynandromorphic feat...

Se reporta la estrecha relación entre uno de los principales vec-tores del virus del Nilo Occidental (VNO), Culex pipiens (Diptera, Culicidae), y la planta invasora acuática Ludwigia grandiflora (Spermatophyta, Onagraceae) en el marjal de Xeraco-Xeresa, un humedal al sur de la provincia de Valencia. Los hidrófitos alóctonos desempeñan en ocasiones...

The sandfly Phlebotomus perniciosus is the most widespread vector of Leishmania infantum in Spain. Laboratory colonisation represents the most feasible source of information on the biology of these insects, but in conducting any study, the density of individuals in the colony may drop to such an extent that it is sometimes difficult to recover the...