By Allison Bray, Environmental Health Specialist, County of San Diego Vector Control

June 11, 2018 (San Diego) -- Mosquito season is here once again; are you ready? San Diego is home to mosquitoes that spread West Nile virus, as well as to a recent invader, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

Aedes aegypti is non-native and has been spreading throughout San Diego County since at least 2015. It can transmit viruses that cause serious diseases including dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. Fortunately, there have been no locally-acquired mosquito-transmitted cases of these diseases in the county. Two other invasive Aedes mosquitoes have also been detected in the county, Aedes albopictus and Aedes notoscriptus; collectively, all three are called “invasive Aedes.”