Overview
- Experts told reporters on Saturday that established Asian tiger mosquito populations are concentrated in southwest Germany and Berlin and that northward incursions into states such as Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern are likely.
- Biologists say long-distance movement is driven mainly by people transporting adult mosquitoes or eggs in cars, trucks and water-filled containers on outdoor displays rather than by the insects flying long distances.
- The species breeds in tiny artificial water sites found in towns and gardens, lays eggs on container rims that hatch when flooded, and can turn from egg to adult in about 12–14 days at roughly 25°C.
- The tiger mosquito can transmit dengue, Zika and chikungunya but no local transmission by established tiger mosquitoes has been confirmed in Germany; separate surveillance has detected West Nile virus in birds and horses in Hamburg without human cases.
- Authorities and local labs are expanding monitoring and urging simple measures—emptying plant saucers, bird baths and buckets, using repellents and screens—and some cities are using traps and targeted larvicide to limit local breeding and protect public health.