Tiger Mosquito Alert
Last updated 10/8/2015 at 9:39am
Recently residents were warned that the Tiger Mosquito had been netted in the area. Now, in the first documented case on record, the very similar looking variety of ‘Yellow Fever Mosquito’ or ‘Aedes aegypti’, has also been reported in Riverside, raising concerns that the species may have colonized, a vector control official said Wednesday.
Northwest Mosquito and Vector Control District spokesman William Van Dyke says, “We’re starting to expand out and do trapping over a wider area now. This is our first known encounter with this variety of mosquito. It could potentially present a problem in the future.”
The insects can pose a health risk if they become carriers of dengue fever. Similarly to mosquitoes that transmit West Nile virus, yellow fever mosquitoes must first feed on a host that’s infected before they are capable of passing on the disease.
Van Dyke says he doesn’t foresee a population explosion of Aedes aegypti, however it is disconcerting to see the pests gaining a “niche foothold in Riverside County.”
