The Bug Bite Guide

Bites from mosquitoes usually don't cause significant illnesses, unless they have microorganisms living within them. The site of the bite may appear immediately or up to two days later.

Signs of a mosquito bite include soft, initially pale bumps on your skin that may become pink or red and itching. If you're highly sensitive to mosquito bites, you may have a much larger area of itching.

Mosquitoes can transmit serious diseases such as West Nile virus, malaria, yellow fever and dengue fever. Malaria is caused by an organism that spends part of its life cycle in a particular species of mosquitoes. West Nile virus causes an inflammation of the brain (encephalitis).

Symptoms of mosquito-borne diseases include fever, one-sided muscle weakness, swollen glands and vomiting.