Can Mosquitoes Give You Coronavirus?

By Sandra A. Kemmerly, MD, Ochsner Health

As the summer heats up, so does mosquito activity. Mosquitoes are known to transmit diseases, so it’s only natural that you may be wondering if mosquitoes can carry coronavirus, and if so, can they spread it to humans?

According to the Center for Disease Control, there is no evidence to date to suggest that COVID-19 can be transmitted by mosquitoes. For a virus to pass from an insect, such as a mosquito or tick, to a person, the virus must be able to replicate inside the insect. COVID-19, and other types of coronavirus, have not been shown to do this. Coronavirus spreads easily from person to person and is transmitted primarily through respiratory droplets that occur when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

You can protect yourself from the spread of these respiratory droplets in a few ways:

• Maintaining good social distance by keeping 6 feet of distance between yourself and others
• Wearing a cloth face covering securely over your mouth and nose while in public
• Washing your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, you can use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol
• Routinely cleaning and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces

While you don’t have to worry about catching COVID-19 from a mosquito, there are other viruses that can be spread via these pests, such as West Nile virus and Zika virus. So, it’s still important that you take steps to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses, particularly during the warmest months of the year. You can do this by using mosquito repellants and eliminating standing pools of water where mosquitos may breed.

The information in this blog post is accurate at the time of publication (July 24, 2020). However, as the situation surrounding COVID-19 continues to change, it’s possible that information has changed since being published. While Ochsner Health is trying to keep our blog posts as up-to-date as possible, we also encourage readers to stay informed on news and recommendations by using the CDC website.