The reach of Aedes aegypti in Queensland, Australia...

I made this, based on the State of Queensland,(Queensland Health) map from the 2015-2020 Queensland Dengue Management plan.[1] 

Feel free to use this image but please abide by the copyright 
notice found within the 2015-2020 Queensland Dengue management plan.[1]
Click on map to enlarge.

The map may be a useful accompaniment to the recent paper confirming Aedes aegypti is the most likely mosquito vector of Zika virus (ZIKV) in Australia.[2]

While Australia does have these mozzies, it does not have local ZIKV transmission and Dengue is not endemic in Queensland. 

Annual local outbreaks of Dengue do occur in Queensland but these result from imported cases and are confined to north Queensland.[1]

I've added in some other map-related information to the reference section as well.[3,4,5,6]

References...

1. 2015-2020 Queensland Dengue management plan, Queensland Government.
   https://www.health.qld.gov.au/publications/clinical-practice/guidelines-procedures/diseases-infection/governance/dengue-mgt-plan.pdf
2. Assessment of Local Mosquito Species Incriminates Aedes aegypti as the Potential Vector of Zika Virus in Australia
   http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0004959
3. Dengue and climate change in Australia: predictions for the future should incorporate knowledge from the past
   https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2009/190/5/dengue-and-climate-change-australia-predictions-future-should-incorporate?0=ip_login_no_cache%3D20128744c69e384fe459a669360e8b29
4. “Dengue” mosquitoes detected in Melbourne: What does it mean?
   https://cameronwebb.wordpress.com/2014/03/16/dengue-mosquitoes-detected-in-melbourne-what-does-it-mean/
5. The Extinction of Dengue through Natural Vulnerability of Its Vectors
   http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/asset?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0000922.PDF

How are scientists responding to the threat of mosquito-borne viruses?

Photo courtesy of Dr. Sonja Hall-Mendelin, Forensic
and Scientific Services, Department of
Health, Queensland.

We tried something different this week. 

Dr. @kat_arden, Dr Sonja Hall-Mendelin and myself wrote a story trying to give you a taste of what goes on, kinda behind the scenes, in Queensland, the only State in Australia that has the two tiny bads - Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Also the State with the greatest number of detected human Zika virus infections in travellers.

So, thanks to the foresight of the crew at Croakey, we have been able to briefly touch on the hard work done by Queensland's many innovative and agile scientists, medical doctors, entomologists, council workers, response teams and other collaborators whom I've undoubted and very unintentionally failed to list.

If you like the story - see the link below - please tweet it, facebook it and send it to your family and friends. This may lead to more of these kinds of pieces in the future - but only if you like them.

This was written for the community.

https://croakey.org/as-who-warns-of-the-rising-threat-of-mosquito-borne-diseases-queensland-scientists-profile-the-response-to-zika/