In Greece, mosquitoes bite back

ATHENS - Reuters

Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito carries exotic tropical infections. REUTERS Photo

Just when it seems things couldn’t get any worse for Greece, the exhausted and indebted country has a new threat to deal with: mosquito-borne diseases.

Species of the blood-sucking insects that can carry exotic-sounding tropical infections like malaria, West Nile Virus, chikungunya and dengue fever are enjoying the extra bit of warmth climate change is bringing to parts of southern Europe.

And with austerity budgets, a collapsing health system, political infighting and rising xenophobia all conspiring to allow pest and disease control measures here to slip through the net, the mosquitoes are biting back.

Already malaria, a disease eliminated from Greece in 1974, is not just returning with visitors and migrants - as it does from time to time in the rest Europe.