Dutch consumer product safety board NWVA is taking measures to prevent the spread of tiger mosquitos to residential areas in Weert, public broadcaster NOS reports.

The insects, which can carry and transmit viruses, were first found in a business park in Weert in July but it is unclear where they came from. Earlier instances of the insect could be traced back to the import of tropical plants and car tyres. The inspection says the measures are to prevent the tiger mosquito from settling here, NOS writes.

According to public health watchdog RIVM, the chances that the tiger mosquito will actually transfer diseases such as dengue fever, zika or chikungunya is negligible.

‘These viruses do not occur here so the mosquito can’t pick them up. It is of course theoretically possible that they have picked up a virus elsewhere and that is why we do these checks. But in practice we have never found a mosquito carrying a virus,’ a spokesperson for the RIVM told NOS.

The NWVA is spraying the area between the residential areas and the business park and is removing possible breeding spots like pots and tyres containing stagnant water. It has also asked the public to remove buckets and rain barrels.

Last year the NVWA found a dozen tiger mosquitos in Veenendaal but none were spotted this year. The only other occurrence was at a flower acution in Naaldwijk in June of this year where the NVWA caught an adult tiger mosquito in one of its traps.