Vienna rules out large-scale tiger mosquito control

Vienna does not plan large-scale measures to control the Asian tiger mosquito, ORF reports. The species, which originates in Southeast Asia, has been established in the Austrian capital since 2021 and is becoming increasingly common.

Experts from the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, or AGES, have found that the tiger mosquito is already the most frequently caught species at some locations in Vienna. The first specimens were detected in the Wasserwiese allotment garden settlement in the Prater in 2021.

Residents report that the mosquitoes are active from early morning until late at night and can become particularly aggressive in the early evening. AGES says the species has now spread across the whole of Vienna.

The mosquitoes breed in small bodies of water such as plant saucers and rain barrels. Even during periods of extreme heat and drought, these containers continue to hold water because residents water their plants and leave rain barrels outside, said zoologist Karin Bakran-Lebl of AGES.

Tiger mosquitoes can transmit tropical viral diseases, but AGES considers the likelihood of people contracting such illnesses in Austria very low.

Graz is testing a birth-control method that involves releasing male tiger mosquitoes sterilised in a laboratory. Vienna’s public health service says this approach is not considered a solution for the capital because of the effort involved, the city’s 412-square-kilometre area and high population density, the species’ established presence and its continued introduction through long-distance traffic on major roads.