Environmental risk mapping: Aedes albopictus in Europe. Proof-of-concept study for the European Environment and Epidemiology Network

​‘Environmental risk mapping: Aedes albopictus in Europe’ is published today with the intent of informing readers about the ways in which the data contained in the ECDC E3 Network can be used for risk mapping of Ae. albopictus – as well as infectious disease vectors more generally – in continental Europe.

Risk mapping with geospatial data is a rapidly growing area in public health. To evaluate and demonstrate the practice of risk mapping, this report describes the process involved in modelling the potential distribution of the Asian tiger mosquito (Ae. albopictus) in Europe. The main section describes the selected data sources, the formatting of environmental data, and the production of a series of risk maps. The discussion surveys the technical decisions made when producing risk maps, and the appendix provides a tutorial on risk mapping based upon non-linear discriminant analysis (NLDA).