On World Mosquito Day, San Antonio ranks high on list of top mosquito cities

Two other Texas cities out-rank San Antonio.

SAN ANTONIO – Aug. 20 is World Mosquito Day. It's not exactly a day to celebrate one of the world's deadliest creatures; it's a day aimed at bringing awareness to the dangers they pose.

It's actually a commemoration of the day in 1897 that a British doctor, Sir Ronald Ross, discovered that female mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans.

Recommended Videos



According to the latest available statistics from the World Health Organization, there were 219 million malaria cases across the world in 2017. The disease was responsible for 435,000 deaths that year, making mosquitoes one of, if not the deadliest animal in the world.

While relatively few cases of malaria are diagnosed in the United States each year, mosquitoes do spread other diseases here.

West Nile virus is the most common virus spread by mosquitoes in the continental U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mosquitoes carrying Zika virus can breed in as little as one teaspoon of standing water

Mosquitoes spread a number of diseases including La Crosse encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, dengue, Zika and chikungunya.

So where does San Antonio rank on the list of the country's most infested cities?

Does the cold snap mean the end of mosquito season? Nope. Not in Texas.

According to the pest control company Terminix, San Antonio comes in at  No. 17. The company based the rankings on number of mosquito services last year. San Antonio has ranked as high as No. 3 in recent years. This year, we were out-ranked by Dallas-Fort Worth (No. 2) and Houston (No. 3) in Texas.  It's one of the rare times we will gladly cede a title to them.

Here is the full list of Terminix's Top 50 Mosquito Cities in the U.S.:

  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
  • Houston, TX
  • New York, NY
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Memphis, TN
  • Baltimore, MD
  •   Chicago, IL
  •   Miami, FL
  •   San Francisco
  •   Boston, MA
  •   Orlando, FL
  •   Nashville, TN
  •   Tampa, FL
  •   San Antonio, TX
  •   Phoenix, AZ
  •   Austin, TX
  •   Oklahoma City, OK
  •   Little Rock, AR
  •   Mobile, AL
  •   Indianapolis, IN
  •   Detroit, MI
  •   Cincinnati, OH
  •   Fresno, CA
  •   St. Louis, MO
  •   West Palm Beach, FL
  •   San Diego, CA
  •   Sacramento, CA
  •   Louisville, KY
  •   Jacksonville, FL
  •   Columbus, OH
  •   Tulsa, OK
  •   Shreveport, LA
  •   Kansas City, MO
  •   Jackson, MS
  •   Cleveland, OH
  •   Tyler-Longview, TX
  •   Birmingham, AL
  •   Fort Smith, AR
  •   Montgomery, AL
  •   Baton Rouge, LA
  •   Chattanooga, TN
  •   Honolulu, HI
  •   Richmond, VA
  •   Corpus Christi, TX
  •   Paducah, KY
  •   Milwaukee, WI
  •   Denver, CO

  • About the Author:

    Julie Moreno has worked in local television news for more than 25 years. She came to KSAT as a news producer in 2000. After producing thousands of newscasts, she transitioned to the digital team in 2015. She writes on a wide variety of topics from breaking news to trending stories and manages KSAT’s daily digital content strategy.