PostedSeptember 6, 2022, 9:09 PM
Berchem“Preventing the tiger mosquito from settling in Luxembourg”
LUXEMBOURG – Experts are working to ensure that the tiger mosquitoes spotted in Luxembourg do not settle there.
Larvae and eggs were spotted near the Berchem highway.
Experts expected it a bit, but the tiger mosquito “Aedes albopictus” was recently spotted for the first time in Luxembourg, in the municipality of Roeser. “We are at this stage with less than ten individuals detected, but not yet an adult, even if we know that they are there because they lay eggs”, notes the entomologist-veterinarian Francis Schaffner who works at the name of the Health Department.
Larvae and eggs were spotted at two sites, at a trap at a point of entry into the country, the Berchem motorway rest area, and a few hundred meters away in a manhole. , frequent egg-laying list. “We have reinforced surveillance around these sites to measure the extent of the presence of this mosquito (manholes, containers containing rainwater)”, specifies the expert. An eradication campaign is under consideration. It requires an authorization for the use of a product from the Ministry of the Environment.
“Almost zero vector risk”
“Luxembourg is at the northern limit of the presence of this mosquito. We can thus hope to circumscribe it, slow down its progression and prevent it from taking hold. Belgium or the Netherlands do it and they have not had a lasting installation at this stage, ”notes Francis Schaffner. A prevention campaign aimed at the public should also be carried out to ensure that containers of standing water in the vicinity are avoided.
What is the risk for the population? Nothing to panic regarding. “The vector risk is at this stage almost zero,” said the expert. In other words, there is very little chance that the insect transmits diseases. This risk only occurs when the mosquito is installed, bites a traveler carrying a virus and transports him. “It is done in the long term. Years passed in France or Italy between the appearance of the mosquito and the first cases of transmission”, specifies Francis Schaffner.