Dangerous bloodsucker: sand fly spreads
Ana Goldscheider studied journalism and corporate communication in Hamburg and is now completing additional training as an editor. In a medical editorial office, she writes texts for print magazines and, among other things.
More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.Climate change and globalization make it easier for insects from the south to develop new habitats in Germany. One of them is the sand fly. Your sting is extremely uncomfortable. Above all, however, it is a carrier of dangerous pathogens.
According to researchers, sand flies as a potential carrier of the disease leishmaniasis are advancing further north. "Specimens were first discovered in Germany in 1999," said doctoral student Sandra Oerther. Locations are mainly in Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg. "Global warming favors the occurrence of sand flies. This means that previously unknown diseases could also find their way into the region," she told the German press agency.
Hairy pests
Between 2015 and 2020, Sandra Oerther was already trapped by around 150 sand flies. "They are more common than expected," she said. Sand flies are a few millimeters tall, hairy, have upright V-shaped wings, beige-colored bodies and black button eyes.
The Klaus Tschira Foundation, which promotes Oerther's work in the Rhine-Neckar region, announced that some people have already made bad acquaintance with the itchy pustules while on vacation in the Mediterranean. Although the mosquitoes look inconspicuous, the diseases they transmit are treacherous.
Pets could introduce pathogens
Leishmaniasis is common in the tropics and also occurs in the Mediterranean region. Because of the spread of the sandflies to the north, there are also cases imported into Germany. Experts warn that dogs brought along from the Mediterranean in particular can transport the pathogen to Germany.
The disease can be transmitted through the saliva of blood-sucking insects. The pathogens can cause skin changes as well as liver, spleen or bone marrow damage, among other things. Sand flies mostly live in buildings such as stables or barns.
People can protect themselves from the stitches with long, light clothing. In addition, if you drive into risk areas, you should spread a mosquito net over the sleeping area.
Mosquitoes will soon be more common
Scientists expect sand flies to expand their range significantly by the end of the 2060s. Climate change and increasing globalization made it possible for mosquitoes and ticks to develop new habitats in Europe, according to the European Congress for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Amsterdam last year. (ag / dpa)
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