Aedes albopictus, known as the 'tiger' mosquito is here to stay. Brought to the United courtesy of a tyre shipment, where water had remained long enough for the mosquito to lay its eggs, the wily little pest is now almost ubiquitous in the United States.
They are unusually aggressive mosquitoes, feeding all day and attacking any part of the body. They attack small animals too.
In fact it is so tenacious, that even if you try getting it off you by swatting, it will remain embedded once it starts to suck the blood.
Of course there are other mosquitoes, and just as annoying, but the tiger mosquito carries a few diseases that are debilitating. One of them is the chikungunya virus, which is a lesser form of the similar dengue fever, but less serious or lethal. There is a vaccine for the disease, but it is not widely available.
If there is a silver lining to the aggressive pest, is the fact that its males, if they breed with the females of another dangerous species, Aedes Aegypti, they render the latter species sterile. And that is a good thing, since Aedes Aegypti can cause West Nile Virus, Equine Encephalitis, a sometimes deadly disease for both humans and horses, dengue fever, yellow fever and malaria. A. Aegypti, in short is the mother of all disease carrying mosquitoes.
As usual taking precautions against the mosquitoes are widely recommended.
Source : Live Science/ 6.26.13
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