In early fall of 2016, Windsor-Essex County became the first region in Canada to find an established population of Aedes albopictus, also known as the Asian Tiger Mosquito. This finding was significant because these mosquitoes are capable of transmitting Zika virus disease, which can cause a birth defect called microcephaly and other severe brain defects if it infects women in early pregnancy.
As a result, our staff, in collaboration with the City of Windsor, Public Health Ontario (PHO) and Public Health Agency of Canada conducted additional investigations and surveillance and captured more Aedes mosquitoes.
All the mosquitoes captured tested negative for Zika virus disease. The WECHU will conduct enhanced surveillance for these mosquitoes over the next few years.
| Surveillance Week | Number of Aedes albopictus trapped and identified |
|---|---|
| September 14 | 1 |
| September 21 | 3 |
| September 28 | 0 |
| October 4 | 2 |
| October 10 | 11 |
