• contingency plan
• early detection
• honey bee
• surveillance and control methods
• Tropilaelaps spp.

Tropilaelaps spp. are small, reddish-brown parasitic mites that represent a significant threat for the health of Apis mellifera, the European honeybee. While native to Asia and historically hosted by giant Asian honey bees (Apis dorsata, A. breviligula, and A. laboriosa), these mites have adapted to A. mellifera primarily due to beekeeping trade and human intervention. Tropilaelaps spp. infestation is included in the list of notifiable diseases by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), as it leads to severe brood damage, adult deformities, reduced colony productivity, and, if left unmanaged, eventual colony collapse. Currently, the European Union (EU) is considered free from this exotic parasite. However, recent detections of Tropilaelaps mites in countries geographically close to the EU, such as Russia, Georgia and Uzbekistan, and the parasite’s proven ability to survive and thrive across a wide range of climatic conditions, prompt the need to establish a cohesive, EU-wide contingency plan aimed at preventing the introduction, establishment, and spread of the mite within member states. This thesis was carried out at the Beekeeping Department of the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana 'M. Aleandri' and describes a contingency plan for Tropilaelaps spp. mites.
The contingency plan is built around three key pillars: prevention, training, and control. Preventing the introduction into the EU is based on early detection, targeted surveillance and stringent sanitation protocols. The contingency plan should also outline actions to take if prevention fails, including swift quarantine of affected areas, widespread testing, strict biosecurity measures, possible destruction of infested colonies, and clear communication among stakeholders. Preventing Tropilaelaps spp. mites threat in Europe requires a collaborative one health strategy, as safeguarding bee health is a collective duty for global ecological balance and food security.