Are there mosquitoes in Rome? Yes, by day in the courtyards and by night at the window.

Yes. Rome has the Asian tiger mosquito, which bites by day in courtyards, parks and at café tables, and night-biting Culex mosquitoes, the West Nile carriers, which come through an open window after dark. Roma province led Italy in West Nile cases in 2026, and the city had two sporadic local dengue cases and one chikungunya case. Repellent from the morning on and a closed, air-conditioned room at night cover most of it.

A daytime biter in the courtyards

A Sapienza University study that tracked tiger mosquitoes along a 43-mile (70 km) line through Rome called the metropolitan area one of the most infested in Southern Europe. Numbers were highest in heavily built-up neighborhoods, with parks and gardens as hot spots, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) notes that in a Rome study, blood-fed females were mainly found indoors.

So the bites come in Trastevere's courtyards, on terraces lined with potted plants, in the shade of the big parks and at outdoor tables. Put repellent on over sunscreen before the day's sightseeing and again in the late afternoon; our daytime-mosquito routine has the schedule. Spraying is common, yet a 2026 Sapienza study found a marker of resistance to pyrethroid sprays in up to 38.5% of tiger mosquitoes at some Rome sites, so a sprayed street doesn't mean a bite-free courtyard.

After dark the night biters take over, and evenings by the Tiber and after rain tend to be the worst. Italian windows often lack screens, so book air conditioning that lets you keep them shut, or pack a plug-in vaporizer, and reapply before dinner in Trastevere.

West Nile, dengue and chikungunya in 2026

West Nile is the main one. Italy's national health institute (ISS) counted 72 locally acquired cases in Roma province in 2026 as of October 21, the most of any Italian province, after 35 in 2025. The count covers the whole province, Fiumicino and Anzio included, with no town breakdown. Most infections cause no symptoms, and ECDC notes that severe illness falls mostly on people 65 and older, who should take the evening routine most seriously.

The tiger mosquito brought two sporadic local dengue cases, with onsets on September 22 and 27, and one chikungunya case, with onset on August 22. ECDC kept both dengue cases open on October 21, as it does for 45 days after the last onset. Rome has had bigger years. Lazio's 2017 chikungunya outbreak began in Anzio and passed 400 notified cases, and a 2023 dengue outbreak of about 40 cases centered on the eastern part of the city.

CDC has no mosquito-borne disease notice for Italy and recommends no malaria medicine, and the yellow fever vaccine is neither recommended nor required. Its Italy page also lists leishmaniasis, spread by sand flies that bite from dusk to dawn, which the evening routine covers.

June is easiest, and September still bites

June is the easiest summer month. Numbers climb through July and August, and the Rome study found a second autumn peak after heavy rain, so September can bite as hard as August. Local infections come late, with Italy's West Nile peak at the end of August and Rome's chikungunya and dengue cases in late August and late September. The 2017 outbreak ran into November, so October still calls for repellent on warm afternoons.

Where you're staying

How the city and its coast compare for a June–September trip.

The Italy briefing covers the whole country, and our Florence & Tuscany briefing covers the next stop north.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from TripAdvisor threads and linked so you can read them in full. Both are older, and bites in Rome vary with the rain, the river and whether your window stays shut.

• Rome and Florence · summer

  In an older thread (around 2013), a traveler back from two weeks in Rome and two nights in Florence ended up at an emergency medical center after a severe allergic reaction to a bite cream bought at a pharmacy. Posters rated Florence and Tuscany worse than Rome, said repellents bought in Italy worked poorly, and recommended bringing DEET and keeping windows closed with air conditioning at dawn, dusk and night. TripAdvisor ↗

• Rome · September

  In an older thread, replies said the air in Rome is not thick with mosquitoes but even one can ruin a night, that it is worse by the river and after rain, and that it is unlikely to be a big problem but repellent is worth packing. TripAdvisor ↗

One rule outlasts the trip. Any fever during or after your trip, especially with headache, rash or joint pain, means a doctor visit, and you tell the doctor you were bitten in Rome.

Traveler questions