The Asian tiger mosquito presents a looming threat to Australian public health

The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, can carry several flaviviruses such as dengue, yellow fever and Zika, as well as the alphavirus chikungunya, all of which are now recognised as causative agents of major human infectious diseases. The infectious bite of a mosquito has the capacity to transmit any of these closely related positive-sense, single-stranded RNA arboviruses to a person. While infection is often asymptomatic it may cause a short-lived febrile illness, typically characterised by influenza-like symptoms with headache, muscle ache and joint pain, but sometimes leading to debilitating chronic fatigue and more significant, sometimes fatal, disease-specific clinical manifestations.