The Ministry of Health of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, with the support of the Biodiversity Foundation, has developed the project “Surveillance of the Tiger Mosquito and the Black Fly in the Region of Murcia”.

The project sought to provide regional health authorities with valid entomological tools for better management of health risks from vector-borne diseases such as Zika, dengue or chikungunya. This objective has been achieved by providing the municipalities of the Region of Murcia with the appropriate technical support for a systematized and homogeneous surveillance of tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) populations. The implementation of a quality system in the entomological laboratory, as well as the protocolization of the communication systems between agents involved in risk management, will increase the protection of the population against these diseases.

The regional tiger mosquito surveillance system of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, based on georeferencing and to which 100% of the municipalities that make up the Region have adhered, unifies surveillance criteria and provides useful information for the design of surveillance and vector control plans, guarantees the evaluation and improves the management of the risk of arboviruses. It has made it possible to implement entomological tools for the assessment of the risk of local transmission of the Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses, as well as to carry out a diagnosis of the situation of the infestation of simulidae in the Segura River as it passes through the municipality of Ojós.