Stuttgart - Fears of dangerous mosquitoes from Italy spreading across the Alps and fanning out to spread fatal disease are overstated, a leading academic entomologist said Tuesday.
The Asian tiger mosquito, scientific name Aedes albopictus, has become widespread in the Tuscany region and other parts of Italy since the 1990s and has been sighted in Germany. Striking in daytime, it bites rapidly before it can be swatted.
Claus Zebitz, entomologist at Hohenheim University in Stuttgart, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, "Even if it can spread dengue fever, which is dangerous and common in Africa, the risk in this country is very limited.