Los Angeles might be best known for blue skies, beaches and film premiers — but for the last several years it’s held another, unenviable distinction: the most mosquito-infested city in America.
And this year has been especially nightmarish, thanks to a series of heatwaves and an extra-powerful El Niño. Locals have called it a summer of “living hell” as clouds of mosquitoes swarm backyards and leave diners at open air patios scratching their ankles.
That double whammy of heat and humidity is making 2026 one of the worst mosquito years in recent history, causing a spike in cases of West Nile virus and raising fears that the nuisance bugs could spread other diseases including dengue, brought in by travelers. With moisture in this week’s forecast and overnight temperatures likely to stay above 50F (10C), there seems to be no end in sight for a problem that local authorities have struggled to contain for the last decade.
“I’ve been here my whole life and the amount of mosquitoes I’ve seen this summer has been insane,” said one TikTok user in a video with more than 20,000 likes. “Everyone is talking about them … You can’t even go to your back yard. You can’t even sit in your car with the windows down. They’re infested everywhere.”
READ MORE:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/11/los-angeles-mosquitoes-west-nile-virus-el-nino
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