Last week Lytham St. Anne’s News reported how Lytham’s Liggard Brook was no longer a haven for wildlife – except for mosquitos buzzing in the sewage stench. Sewage spills site ‘Top of the Poops’ reported that Liggard Brook was polluted by sewage 29 times in 2022 – lasting 53 hours, blaming United Utilities (see https://top-of-the-poops.org/waterway/united-utilities/liggard-brook )

And now, worryingly, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has warned increasingly long and hot summers are raising the risk of deadly disease-carrying tiger mosquitoes becoming established in Britain.

The tiger mosquito lives in urban areas, allowing it to spread fatal tropical diseases to large numbers of people. It has already spread to 13 European countries since first becoming established in Italy in 1990. Several adult tiger mosquitoes have been found in traps monitored by the UKHSA at rail terminals, ports and motorway service stations.

Scientific modelling done by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine suggests the tiger mosquito will become established across much of England and Wales within 50 years. To try to slow their spread the UKHSA is urging local authorities to take swift action when the mosquitoes are spotted. ‘If we find them then we have a contingency plan to eliminate them,’ said a spokesperson from the UKHSA. ‘Unless you get in there at an early stage the mosquito will establish. Before we know it, we will have mosquitoes all over the country.’

Meanwhile, last week, Paris became the latest city to fumigate some neighbourhoods amid fears that breeding colonies could lead to an outbreak of the deadly fever introduced by the mosquitoes.

The Lytham St. Anne’s News article (shown below) centred on the decline in wildlife in Liggard Brook may be found here: https://www.lythamstannes.news/news/liggard-brook-no-longer-a-haven-for-wildlife-except-for-mosquitos-buzzing-in-the-sewage-stench/