Estimating the Presence and Abundance of Aedes Albopictus in Europe Using Neural Networks

Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito species transmitting dengue, chikungunya, Zika and other arboviruses. Its ongoing geographical expansion across Europe, driven by climate change, trade, human mobility and urbanisation, is increasing the risk of vector-borne disease transmission in previously unaffected regions. Accurate mapping of mosquito distribution and abundance is essential for timely and targeted vector control and public health preparedness.Here we present AIedes, a neural network framework that predicts both the presence and weekly abundance of Ae. albopictus across Europe using climate variables alone. The model reproduces the large-scale spatial distribution of the species