French environment officials have been using helicopters to spray swarms of dangerous mosquitoes in parts of Northern France.

The mosquito being targeted is the Asian Tiger Mosquito Aedes albopictus an alien invader from warmer climates which has started to spread in some parts of Europe. This summers weather pattern of very hot days followed by periods rain has caused an increase in the mosquitoes' numbers with as many as six billion larvae ready to hatch in marshland along the border between France and Belgium.

Around twice the size of an ordinary mosquito and unlike other mosquitoes the Asian Tiger feeds during the day it doesn't carry Malaria but it does carry other deadly diseases such as Encephalitis, Dengue fever, and Chikungunya fever. The mosquito is already a problem in some parts of Northern Italy where some people have already become infected with Chikungunya fever.

Chikungunya fever has an incubation period of 2 to 4 days with sudden fever and severe often crippling joint pain as the disease infects the surrounding cartilage. A rash usually follows between the second and fifth day of the illness. If left untreated sufferers may be left with severe joint pain for many years and other complications can set in.

Officials in the Nord department are spraying the areas where the mosquitoes are breeding in the hope of eradicating the outbreak but have said that "the threat to public health across Europe is immense".  Although there is a potential risk in Britain health officials say that the British climate is currently too cold for the diseases that the insect carries to survive for any great length of time.

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