Are there mosquitoes in Sardinia? Yes, and the lagoons are where they matter.

Yes. Mosquitoes breed in numbers around Sardinia's lagoons and salt pans, and the Asian tiger mosquito bites by day in every town. In 2026 Oristano province, on the west-coast lagoons, had 28 of the island's 31 West Nile cases, while the Costa Smeralda, Alghero and Cagliari areas had none. Repellent from late afternoon near the water and a closed room at night cover most of it.

West Nile and the Oristano lagoons

Italy's national health institute (ISS) counted 31 locally acquired West Nile cases in Sardinia in 2026, in data to October 28, out of 780 nationwide. Oristano province had 28 of them, 14 neuroinvasive, and the Sulcis Iglesiente area in the southwest had 3. It was Oristano's second heavy year running. In 2025 the province had 36 of Sardinia's 45 cases, and veterinary surveillance found the virus in 47 mosquito samples there, more than in any other Italian province. ISS and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) report cases by province only, so none can be placed in Oristano city, Cabras or on the Sinis coast.

West Nile travels on night-biting Culex mosquitoes, which breed in numbers on the lagoon coasts. Most infections cause no symptoms, and ECDC notes that severe illness falls mostly on people 65 and older, so a late-summer stay on the west coast calls for the strictest evening routine, above all for older travelers. ECDC has never recorded local dengue or chikungunya in Sardinia. CDC has no travel notice for Italy and recommends no malaria medicine, and the yellow fever vaccine is neither recommended nor required. Our Italy briefing covers the rest of the country.

Lagoons bite, the windy north less

Bites depend on where you stay. Cabras, on flat land between large lagoons, has a reputation for heavy summer numbers. Cagliari is ringed by lagoons and salt pans, Molentargius and Santa Gilla among them, and the south has some of the island's main lagoons. The windy, rocky north coast, the Costa Smeralda and Gallura included, tends to have fewer. Anywhere on the island, a still, hot evening beside a lagoon is the worst case and a breezy day the best.

The tiger mosquito is established in every Italian province, so resort gardens, campsites and town terraces get daytime bites, mostly in the morning and late afternoon. Sand flies, which spread the leishmaniasis CDC lists for Italy, bite from dusk to dawn in the countryside, and a 2021 survey found 15.4% of 1,147 Sardinian dogs infected. Light long sleeves and trousers at dusk cut bites from both. Reapply repellent after swimming, and book a room with air conditioning or screens so the windows can stay shut at night.

June is easiest, September still counts

June is the easiest summer month. Lagoon mosquitoes build through July and August, and West Nile comes late. Italy's 2026 onsets ran from May 22 to September 30 and peaked at the end of August, so take the most care from late July through September on the west coast. Sand flies are active from about May to October, so a spring or fall trip still calls for evening repellent.

Where you're staying

How four corners of the island compare for a June–September trip.

Our Rome and Florence & Tuscany briefings cover the mainland legs of an Italy trip.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from two TripAdvisor threads and linked so you can read them in full. One dates from 2018 and the other isn't dated, and bites in Sardinia swing with the wind and the nearest lagoon.

• Iglesias, Cagliari, Bosa and Alghero · summer · 2018

  A traveler just back from Iglesias, Cagliari, Bosa and Alghero said mosquitoes were pretty bad and they were covered in bites; one bite on the upper arm became infected and was treated with antibiotics and steroids. A prospective visitor in the same thread had read of a spike in mosquito activity and a couple of West Nile cases on the island that summer. TripAdvisor ↗

• Sardinian coast (Cabras, the south, the north coast) · summer

  Asked which stretch of coast has the fewest mosquitoes, replies said they are common wherever there are ponds and lagoons, that Cabras sits on flat land between large lagoons so heavy summer numbers are normal there, that the south has some of the island's main lagoons, and that mosquitoes are less widespread on the windy, rocky northern coasts. 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 by mosquitoes in Sardinia.

Traveler questions