Germany faces surge in tiger mosquito population

After recent heavy rain and warm summer weather, the tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) population has risen sharply, with southern German regions reporting a growing nuisance. Researchers at the Institute for Applied Control of Tiger Mosquitoes (IFABET) in Regensburg, led by biologist Dr. Silke Göttler, stress that lasting control requires both removal of breeding sites and trapping of adult mosquitoes using specially designed, insecticide‑free traps. The traps mimic human body odor to lure mosquitoes into a vortex that deposits them into a capture net, where they quickly desiccate. Additional traps imitate attractive breeding spots to capture egg‑laying females, limiting population growth.

The German Society for Tropical Medicine, Travel Medicine and Global Health (DTG) has issued a new S1 guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of arboviral infections. A recent INTERFACE model study indicates that chikungunya virus, one of the diseases transmitted by tiger mosquitoes, is expanding northward into Central Europe, heightening public‑health concerns.