CABI has led a team of scientists on new research which reveals that a humble bug can help relieve more than 2 million sufferers of allergies in Europe while also saving more than Euro 1 billion in health costs.
Dr. Urs Schaffner, lead author of the study published in Nature Communications, says the leaf beetle Ophraella communa can significantly reduce pollen â which causes a range of symptoms from sneezing to itchy eyes and aggravates conditions such as asthma and eczema â from common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia).
The interdisciplinary study â the first to quantify the economic benefits of biological control in Europe â also argues that the costs inflicted by invasive species in Europe are âmost probably seriously underestimated.â
The team of scientists from institutions including the University of Fribourg and ETH Zurich, Switzerland, the University of Worcester, UK, and Leiden University, NL, suggest countries in the Balkan Peninsula â such as Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia â will benefit most from the leaf beetle as a biological control.
Prior to the accidental arrival of the leaf beetle in 2013, some 13.5 million people suffered from ragweed-induced allergies in Europe, causing economic costs of approximately Euro 7.4 billion annually.
In Europe, common ragweed is considered invasive in more than 30 countries and its spread and impact, the scientists say, is likely to increase with rising temperatures caused by climate change.
