Eggs of two invasive mosquitoes detected in England, UKHSA says

Eggs of two species of disease‑carrying mosquito were detected in England during a five year surveillance programme, officials said, prompting renewed calls for enhanced monitoring as climate change increases the risk that invasive mosquitoes could establish in the country. The UK Health Security Agency reported Aedes aegypti eggs at a freight storage facility near Heathrow Airport in September 2023 and Aedes albopictus eggs at a motorway service station in Kent in August 2024.

The findings come from a UKHSA report covering surveillance from May 2020 to November 2024, which analysed 1,070 ovitraps placed at 117 locations, including seaports, airports and highway transport hubs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Traps were checked every two weeks during the summer monitoring season. The report also noted broader surveillance using adult mosquito traps at 307 sites across England and Wales.

UKHSA scientists used laboratory techniques to identify the species. The agency and the report’s lead author, Colin Johnston, described the detections as isolated incursions rather than evidence that either species has established a breeding population in the UK. Following each discovery,...