Dreaded Asian tiger mosquito 'unswattable', bites all day long'

ITS personality traits include 'extreme aggression' and relentless bloodlust for humans, dogs, cats and birds. Now it's trying to get to Australia.

Horror mozzie ?bites all day long?

IT'S the latest scourge of the earth - the Asian tiger mosquito, named for its arresting stripes and aggressive nature - and Australia is desperate to keep it out.

After conquering Central and South America, southern Europe and several Pacific Islands, the Asian tiger has turned its beady eyes to the US, infesting 26 states so far, sparking a national health alert.

Unlike other mosquitos, the Asian tiger bites all day long - from morning until night.

Its first passion is human blood but it also attacks dogs, cats, birds and other animals.

"Part of the reason it is called 'tiger' is also because it is very aggressive," Dina Fonseca, Professor of Entomology at New Jersey's Rutgers University, told the Wall Street Journal.

"You can try and swat it all you want, but once it's on you, it doesn't let go."

The Asian tiger transmits more than 20 diseases, among them West Nile fever, dengue fever, yellow fever, two types of encephalitis and one you might not have heard of - the chikungunya virus.

Chikungunya causes severe joint pain, vomiting, rash, fatigue, fever and headaches. There

is no vaccine and no treatment, although most people recover within a few weeks.

The pest has tried - so far unsuccessfully - to make it into Australia, although its famously weather-resistant eggs are "regularly detected on imported bamboo", according to the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS).

"Australia is free from the Asian tiger mosquito and we want to keep it that way," AQIS warns on a web page devoted to the insect.

"The aggressive nature of the Asian tiger mosquito poses a major human and livestock health risk," it says.

"It is most likely to enter Australia as eggs or larvae in cargo capable of holding water such as tyres, machinery, bulk steel and yachts."