American Notes Pests

Feel a mosquito biting at your leg? Be careful: it might be America's new pest, the Asian tiger. First discovered in the U.S. nine months ago in Houston, the mosquito can transmit dangerous viral infections, including dengue fever and the La Crosse virus. The tiger has since been found in three states besides Texas: Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

To date, however, the mosquito's buzz has been worse than its bite. The tiger has not yet been blamed for any reports of illness in the U.S. Nor can it fly far on its own. It likes to breed in stagnant water often found in used tires; to travel, it hitches rides on trucks and ships.