The significance of the introduction of Aedes albopictus into the southeastern United States with implications for the Caribbean, and perspectives of the Pan American Health Organization.

The introduction and apparent infestation of Aedes albopictus into the Gulf States of Texas and Louisiana in the United States is viewed as the most singular medical entomological happening of this decade in the Americas. The implications for the Caribbean and other countries southward are serious, as the habitat described for this Stegomyia cousin of Ae. aegypti, is amply available in the Windward and Leeward islands of the Antilles. Studies from the Pacific and regions of Southeast Asia indicate that Ae. albopictus competes for the same peridomestic niches as Ae. aegypti and it has been found to be a competent vector of several dengue serotypes. In this presentation, a call is issued to the mosquito control and abatement programs in the Gulf States to take stringent measures to eliminate this new dengue vector before it becomes thoroughly established and spreads to other states as well as into countries of the Americas and into the West Indies.