The Asian tiger mosquito continues to spread in Switzerland, but thanks to monitoring and targeted measures, it has not yet become established nationwide. Regions such as Ticino and Basel are particularly affected, where populations are growing and the public is being called upon to report and eliminate breeding sites.
The tiger mosquito is an aggressive mosquito. It can transmit tropical diseases such as dengue fever, Zika, and chikungunya, although local transmission has not yet occurred in Switzerland.
The tiger mosquito is active during the day, which makes it very annoying for humans, as it also bites in the early morning and evening hours. In our garden, located in the Canton of Basel-Stadt, all the mosquitoes I photographed on my body were tiger mosquitoes. Today’s photo shows one of them.