{"id":12098,"date":"2026-05-15T14:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/12098\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T14:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:22:10","slug":"invasive-barbecue-stopper-asian-tiger-mosquito-detected-away-from-entry-ports-on-mainland-for-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/12098\/","title":{"rendered":"Invasive ‘barbecue stopper’ Asian tiger mosquito detected away from entry ports on mainland for first time"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world’s most invasive mosquito, known as the “barbecue stopper”, has been detected for the first time on the Australian mainland.<\/p>\n

Health authorities said six Asian tiger mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus) were found during routine surveillance near the Bamaga community, about 750 kilometres north-west of Cairns.<\/p>\n

An aggressive daytime-biting insect, it can spread human viral diseases such as dengue and Japanese encephalitis.<\/p>\n

\"Map<\/p>\n

Bamaga is a remote community 750km north-west of Cairns on the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland. (Datawrapper: Conor Byrne)<\/p>\n

Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service (TCHHS) said there was no threat to public health, but extensive spraying was underway on the Cape York Peninsula.<\/p>\n

State MP for Cook David Kempton said while it is not considered an outbreak, the discovery was three males and three females.<\/p>\n

“The biggest questions are, where are they coming from, and where are they now?” he said.<\/p>\n

“If we find them in large numbers over a large area, we’ve certainly got an issue on our hands.”<\/p>\n

\"portrait<\/p>\n

Thomas Schmidt is an expert in mosquitoes and genetics. (Supplied: Scimex)<\/p>\n

University of Sydney Evolutionary Biology lecturer Tom Schmidt is an expert on the evolution of invasive insects.<\/p>\n

Dr Schmidt said the species excelled at travelling with boats, planes, and trucks, and can survive cooler weather<\/a> better than other tropical mosquitoes.<\/p>\n

“I think this is the first time that they’re seeing multiple individuals on the mainland and not at an airport or seaport<\/a>,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It occasionally comes into Australian airports and seaports, and then those incursions will be eradicated.”<\/p>\n

Dr Schmidt said it was “incredible” that the mosquito had only just been detected in the wild, 21 years after it was first found in the Torres Strait.<\/p>\n

\"Portrait<\/p>\n

David Kempton wonders where the mosquitoes are coming from. (ABC News: Conor Byrne)<\/p>\n

‘Barbecue stopper’<\/p>\n

While the source of the incursion has not been confirmed, Mr Kempton said recent illegal foreign fisher incursions<\/a> were a potential entry point.<\/p>\n

“I couldn’t discount that as a source,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Aedes<\/p>\n

The female Aedes albopictus, also known as the Asian tiger mosquito. (Supplied QIMR: Chen Wu)<\/p>\n

Dr Schmidt said genetic analysis could confirm where these particular insects originated from, and if that was connected to illegal foreign fishers.<\/p>\n

“It seems that the original Torres Strait invasion around 2004-2005 was from an Indonesian source, which could have been fishermen,” he said.<\/p>\n

He said the “barbecue stopper” nickname referred to its aggressive nature.<\/p>\n

“Aedes albopictus is known for biting repeatedly, and they’re very painful bites,” he said.<\/p>\n

“When they’re about, people tend not to want to go outside.”<\/p>\n

No risk to public<\/p>\n

TCHHS acting medical services director Ineke Wever said the detected mosquitoes did not carry any virus, but she urged residents to take precautions.<\/p>\n

\"portriat<\/p>\n

Ineke Wever says residents can do their part to help control the spread of mosquitoes. (Supplied: TCHHS)<\/p>\n

“The very best protection against mosquito-borne diseases is to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes in the first place,” she said.<\/p>\n

Dr Wever said wearing light-coloured, long-sleeved clothing, using insect repellents and screens, and regularly emptying water containers were good practices.<\/p>\n

“All residents also need to do their part and take action to eliminate mosquito breeding sites on their properties and protect themselves from mosquito bites,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The world’s most invasive mosquito, known as the “barbecue stopper”, has been detected for the first time on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12904,22,21,12901,12905,7820,7821,12907,7819,9546,12902,7822,12903,12900,12906,7823],"class_list":["post-12098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-aedes-albopictus","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-cook","tag-coral-sea","tag-far-north-queensland","tag-fnq","tag-foreign-fishers","tag-gimuy","tag-indonesia","tag-leichhardt-electorate","tag-marlin-coast","tag-northern-peninsula-area-regional-council","tag-nparc","tag-png","tag-tropical-queensland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}