Ana Clara Silva, vice-president of IASUADE confirms that Madeira and Porto Santo participate in a national vector monitoring programme REVIVE, which have indicated 50% less mosquito activity in 2014 compared to 2012.

Eradication of the mosquito is unlikely. Locals and visitors must learn to live with the mosquito, as in other destinations such as Greece or Madrid in Spain where 38 cases of imported Chinkunguya virus infections were declared and are transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, which is settling not only in tropical destinations.

Prevention is still the key action, both in the reduction of breeding grounds, especial water ways, as well as wearing light coloured, long sleeve clothes and mosquito repellent to prevent being bitten.


Lastly, travellers visiting known Dengue or Chinkunguya outbreak regions, such as Brazil, should  adhere to recommendations to prevent being bitten and/or infected by the Aedes mosquito. Those returning from Dengue outbreak regions and have any symptoms of Dengue within 2-3 weeks after returning, should contact their doctor ... as they could cause an outbreak in regions with Aedes mosquito.

Source "Mosquitos de regresso, Aedes aegypti já estão em maior actividade. Iasaude recomenda cuidados" in DN Noticias Madeira 2014-07-23

Monitoring Aedes mosquito population, as well as their viral load, could be a key step to reduce the risk of a Dengue or Chikungunya fever outbreak in European locations where the Aedes mosquito is know to be resident.

Source: IASAUDE / July 2014

The World Cup in 2014 was held in Brasil, the country with the highest number of Dengue cases in the world. 

The World Cup is expected to attract 600,000 international visitors and , with the substantial decrease of mosquito and dengues cases in 2013 and early 2014, an estimated 3-59 and expected 33 visitors will become infected  ... estimating the number of dengue infections in international visitors to Brazil may also help anticipate the risk of importation of dengue into currently non-dengue endemic countries when the travellers return home. Travellers contribute to the spread of dengue globally which for example has led to the dengue outbreak in Europe in 2012, in the Island of Madeira (Portugal) (Wilder-Smith et al. 2014). 

Data on air passengers and air travel patterns may help identify risks for importation (Napoli et al. 2012, Sessions et al. 2013). The establishment of dengue in currently uninfected area will depend on the presence and density of Aedes mosquitoes. Assessing the likelihood of local transmission of these viruses into currently uninfected countries such as most of Europe depends on the number of viraemic person-days among air-travellers arriving in the European Union (Seyler et al. 2009).

Finally, the dengue number of cases observed in the first 14 weeks of 2014 is more than 80% lower than the same period in 2013. Many factors could explain this observation, in particular the huge epidemic that occurred in 2013 (the highest ever in Brazilian dengue history with more than 1.3 million cases) and the severe drought observed in the summer period of 2103/2014. The latter factor has been previously reported in Brazil (Olívêr et al. 2014), when a significant negative correlation was observed between dengue cases and bushfires, a phenomenon strongly influenced by drought. In addition, important vector control measures were reinforced as a result of the huge outbreak in 2013. In any case, it is expected that the number of dengue cases among travellers visiting Brazil in the World Cup will be very low.

Source:
"Risk of symptomatic dengue for foreign visitors to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil", Massad E. et al, 
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Vol. 109(3): 394-397, May 2014

Wilder-Smith A, Quam M, Sessions O, Rocklov J, Liu-Helmersson J, Franco L, Khan K. The 2012 dengue outbreak in Madeira: exploring the origins . Euro Surveill. 
2014;19(8):pii=20718. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=20718