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A study in Medical and Veterinary Entomology has whether Culicoides biting midges—tiny insects that can carry serious livestock viruses—are being accidentally exported from Africa to Europe in shipments of cut flowers.

Although researchers did detect small numbers of these insects near and inside greenhouses on a Kenyan flower farm, they found none in packaging or transport areas. This suggests that the risk of midges being shipped with flowers is very low, but not zero.

Given that northern Europe has experienced several unexpected outbreaks of livestock diseases spread by midges in recent years, the findings highlight the need to consider flower shipments as a potential—though unlikely—pathway for disease spread. The study's investigators suggest simple, low-cost measures (like insect light traps in packing rooms) and working with farmers to further reduce risk and protect both public health and international trade.

"Buying and giving cut flowers is of huge cultural importance in Europe, but the trend in recent decades to produce them on a huge scale in Africa and ship them by plane to Europe has introduced new risks of disease spread," said corresponding author Matthew Baylis, Ph.D., of the University of Liverpool, in the UK.

"Although we did not find direct evidence of the transport of midges from Africa to Europe, our study nevertheless highlights possible risks of spreading plant and animal diseases and vectors associated with the global trade in cut flowers."