EMCA - Conference La Rochelle 2019

Conference La Rochelle 2019

104 participants from 19 countries attended the IΧ th EMCA conference in La Rochelle, France, from 12th to 17th of March 2019 entitled “Mosquito Control without Borders”.

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The «IΧth EMCA (European Mosquito Control Association) conference took place during 12-17/03/2019 in La Rochelle, France. The title of the conference was «Mosquito Control without Borders».

More than 100 Mosquito Control Professionals and scientists working on mosquito systematics, ecology, Public Health and operational issues from 19 countries from Europe, Asia and Africa participated actively in the exchange of know-how and in fruitful discussions.

The goal of this conference was to update knowledge and exchange information in order to upgrade the vector control programs that EMCA members are operating in their countries in a constantly changing European environment in terms of entomology and epidemiology.

The Conference was initiated with a welcome address from Mrs. Dominique Rabelle, President of EID ATLANTIQUE (Interdepartmental Establishment for Mosquito Control at the Atlantic Coast, France), the hosting organization, and board member of ADEGE (French National Agency for Mosquito Control). In her speech she talked about the major issues that Mosquito Control has to overcome in order to mitigate the impact of the emergence and re-emergence of vector-borne dieseases and she also mentioned the importance of environmental engeniering for a sustainable mosquito control in touristic and ecological sensititive areas.

The past president of the EMCA, Dr. Jan Lundström, afterwards opened the works of the conference underlining the importance of knowledge exchange and cooperation throughout Europe and beyond, in the light of upcoming Public Health problems and new challenges due to globalisation.

It is clear that the rapid spreading of invasive mosquito species all over Europe and the thriving of indigenous effective vectors for the transmission of important Mosquito Borne Diseases (MBDs), together with the emergence of local outbreaks of Chikungunya, West Nile Virus, Dengue Fever and sporadic cases of Malaria, represent a serious threat for the European continent.

In his keynote lecture, Dr. Elkhan Gasimov, from the Division of Health Emergencies & Communicable Diseases, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, gave an overview of the current situation concerning Mosquito Borne Diseases (MBDs) in the WHO European Region and presented the new Manual on prevention of establishment and control of mosquitoes of public health importance in the WHO European Region. The lively discussion about the harmonization of mosquito control strategies and methodologies that followed, gave the impetus for a conference characterized by high interactivity between the participants.

Mr. Remi Foussadier, the General Manager at EID Rhone-Alpes, in his keynote lecture «Mosquito control in France and its overseas territories: practices and evolution» presented a brief historical overview of mosquito control in France and gave an interesting insight into current and future operational practices.

The conference was structured in nine thematic sessions:

Session 1: Environmental prospects of mosquito control
Chaired by Sebastien Chouin & Jan Lundström
Session 2: Well-known and novel challenges in mosquito surveillance and control
Chaired by Eleonora Flacio & Andrea Drago
Session 3: Achievements in mosquito surveillance and monitoring
Chaired by Mihaela Kavran & Francis Schaffner
Session 4: Invasive mosquitoes and their control
Chaired by Gaby Müller & Arjan Stroo
Session 5: Surveillance and control of potential vector species
Chaired by Luis Hernández-Triana & Peter Luethy
Session 6: Biotechnologies to reinvent mosquito control
Chaired by Amandine Collado & Norbert Becker
Session 7: Public health issues and recent outbreaks in Europe
Chaired by Elina Patsoula & Spiros Mourelatos
Session 8: New technologies in mosquito control
Chaired by Kamil Erguler & Sandra Gewehr
Session 9: Citizen science, communication and personal protection
Chaired by Marina Torres & Ruben Bueno

During the round table entitled “Mosquito control in response to pathogen transmission risk in Europe” , coordinated by Dr. Francis Schaffner, after a short state of the art for the Mediterranean countries given by the representatives for Spain, France, Italy, Serbia and Greece, a vivid discussion about different epidemiological settings and the consequences for Mosquito Control professionals took place.

At the AGM (Annual General Meeting) of the EMCA members, which took place on Tuesday, 12 March 2019 the new president of the EMCA, Dr. Ruben Bueno, was inaugurated. In his speech he stressed out that EMCA will increase its impact and visibility in Europe.

Dr. Ruben Bueno awarded the past president Dr. Jan Lundström for his services for the EMCA during the previous two years.
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