2023-04-27 09:40:24
It soon arrives to buzz in the ears, sting and transmit diseases. The tiger mosquito season opens in France. It will be under increased surveillance next week, as the presence of this insect is inexorably spreading over the territory over the years. From May 1 to November 30, which corresponds to its main period of activity, the health authorities will scrutinize the presence of Aedes albopictus – its scientific name -, multiply awareness messages and trigger possible mosquito control operations.
Last summer, the tiger mosquito, recognizable thanks to its black and white stripes, left a bad memory. As of January 1, 2023, it had colonized 71 departments, a number that has been constantly increasing since its installation in France in 2004.
case of dengue
The insect, which bites more in the morning and in the evening, was the cause of 65 “indigenous cases” of dengue, concentrated in the south of France. The term refers to patients who have not traveled to areas where the virus circulates widely such as the West Indies, but have been bitten by a mosquito that has infected itself through contact with an infected traveler.
“65 cases may not seem like a lot, but it shows a dynamic, it’s a signal for the future,” warns Marie-Claire Paty, vector-borne disease surveillance coordinator at Public Health France. In fact, since 2010, the number of metropolitan departments colonized by the tiger mosquito has multiplied by ten. “We are convinced that this is a risk that will intensify,” insists Marie-Claire Paty.
Towards an increase in transmitted diseases
This is also the message conveyed by the Health Risk Watch and Anticipation Committee (Covars), the former scientific council, in a recent opinion. We must expect, in the years to come, an increase in cases of dengue fever, Zika and chikungunya, diseases transmitted by “vector” mosquitoes now widely established on the national territory, he warned. Viral diseases that “might become public health problems”.
If, in mainland France, a serious form has not been observed to date, complications are always possible, which can lead to resuscitation or even death, recalls Marie-Claire Paty. In Ile-de-France, it is now definitively established in around a hundred municipalities.
A city bug
“Its extension is inevitable”, declares the entomologist Didier Fontenille. “It’s an urban insect, which travels in cars and lays its eggs in collections of water” left by people – breeding sites – such as pots, saucers, water collectors. “He likes human blood, which in town there is no shortage of,” he continues.
To make matters worse, global warming has indirect effects on its growth: the hotter it is, the shorter the mosquito’s development cycle. The rate of multiplication of the virus inside the insect is also increased under the effect of temperature. “So the hotter it is, the faster it can transmit an infection,” explains Anna-Bella Failloux, specialist in mosquito-related diseases at the Institut Pasteur.
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