A dangerous tiger mosquito has been spotted in Assen, the capital of the province of Drenthe.
The Tiger Mosquito, Aedes Albopictus, is not native to the Netherlands. Nevertheless, the Dagblad van het Noorden has reported that the tiger mosquitoes have been found in five Dutch municipalities this year: Amstelveen, Lelystad, Moerdijk, Sittard, and now Assen. The critters are likely to have hitched a ride on car tires and bamboo plants imported from the tropical and subtropical areas of Southeast Asia, where the Tiger Mosquito is from.
This is concerning because the Tiger Mosquito has been known to spread viral diseases in humans and other animals. These diseases include dengue fever, zika, chikungunya, yellow fever, West Nile virus and various forms of encephalitis.
