The European Mosquito Control Association (EMCA) made a strong and well-received contribution at the 91st Annual Meeting of the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA), held in the United States this March. The event brought together more than 950 participants and featured an impressive exhibition of state-of-the-art tools, technologies, and services from across the mosquito control industry.
Under the dedicated symposium “Vector and Vector-borne Disease Management: A European Perspective”, leading European researchers and public health professionals offered valuable insights into the continent’s evolving vector control strategies, as well as the challenges faced in the context of climate change, globalisation, and the emergence of new disease risks.
EMCA President Sandra Gewehr opened the session with a keynote on “Integrated Mosquito Management (IMM) in Europe”, underlining EMCA’s pivotal role in fostering knowledge exchange, setting technical standards, and supporting evidence-based policy. Her presentation detailed the association’s recent achievements, including the release of the WHO-supported Guidelines for Mosquito Control in Built-up Areas in Europe and the 1st EIC EU Prize-winning early warning system on epidemics (mostly focused on WNV) by the EYWA consortium (with 7/15 participants being EMCA members).
In her talk “There is nothing simple about vector control”, Dr Marieta Braks of the RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) in the Netherlands offered a candid reflection on the complexity and unpredictability of managing vector populations. She called for realistic expectations and long-term commitment to sustainable integrated vector management, adapted to the ecological and social contexts of each region.
Grégory L’Ambert of EID Méditerranée examined Europe’s growing experience with autochthonous dengue transmission, as Aedes albopictus continues to expand its range. He presented lessons learned from outbreak responses in France, Italy, and Spain, and outlined the limitations of current control tools in the face of intensifying vector spread and global mobility.
Dr Filiz Gunay, Post-Doc Researcher at the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, University of Florida, provided a valuable overview of Europe’s progress in mosquito identification and surveillance tools. From DNA barcoding and MALDI-TOF to geometric morphometrics and eDNA sampling, she illustrated how Europe is combining traditional taxonomy with cutting-edge science to enhance surveillance and outbreak preparedness.
Dr Alexandra Haskopoulou from the European Biological Control Laboratory of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, based in Thessaloniki, Greece, contributed to the session with a presentation on new tools for improving sand fly management strategies in Europe, addressing the growing concerns related to leishmaniasis and other sand fly-borne diseases. Her work highlighted the pressing need for innovation and collaboration in managing these lesser-known yet increasingly significant vectors.
Rounding out the symposium, Francis Schaffner shared the achievements of VectorNet, a long-standing European network for vector mapping and data sharing. Now in its third iteration, the initiative continues to provide vital support for risk assessment and capacity building across Europe and has become a model of international scientific collaboration. In recognition of his outstanding lifetime contribution to mosquito taxonomy, Dr Schaffner was honoured during the meeting with the prestigious John N. Belkin Memorial Award—AMCA’s highest accolade in the field.
The symposium was framed by the newly signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between AMCA and EMCA, finalised in December 2024. This agreement formalises a commitment to closer cooperation between the two sister organisations, and the symposium itself stands as a promising first milestone in what is hoped to become a long-lasting and fruitful transatlantic collaboration. The AMCA Annual Meeting served not only as a stage for showcasing European advancements but also as a bridge strengthening transatlantic partnerships in mosquito control. With increasing global threats from vector-borne diseases, such collaboration has never been more vital.
