Overview
- Experts said Saturday that the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) has not received any Asian tiger mosquito specimens from Berlin or Brandenburg so far this year.
- Surveillance has previously shown established pockets in parts of Berlin, including a Treptow‑Köpenick allotment confirmed in 2021, while Brandenburg’s health ministry reports no known established populations.
- The Asian tiger mosquito is a small, day‑biting species with black‑and‑white banding that lays eggs in tiny water collections, so warming weather can quickly make local populations active.
- Health authorities urge residents to remove or cover small standing water (flowerpot saucers, watering cans, rain barrels, paddling pools and stored tires) and to support natural predators to reduce breeding sites.
- Citizens can aid surveillance by freezing suspected specimens and mailing them to ZALF’s Mückenatlas for identification, and public‑health experts warn that climate change increases the long‑term risk of local mosquito‑borne virus transmission.