2024-04-17 15:42:35
A home of tiger mosquitoes was spotted in a hamlet of Sardent, south of Guéret. We are only learning regarding it now and yet this discovery has been made during summer 2023. Until now, Creuse was theone of the rare French departments spared by this tropical insect, which can transmit diseases such as dengue or the zika and chikungunya viruses.
Creuse, not yet considered colonized
For the moment, the commune of Sardent – and a fortiori the department of Creuse – is not considered to be colonized. Indeed the tiger mosquito flies badly and moves little by itself. Health authorities consider that there is colonization if individuals are found more than 150 meters from the place where they were born. This was not the case at Sardent in 2023.
Health authorities will nevertheless strengthen their surveillance this year. This is to determine if Sardent’s tiger mosquitoes survived the winter.
The Regional Health Agency also has twelve nesting traps in risk sites. No tiger mosquito eggs have ever been spotted there. But this year the network will be expanded.
The ARS encourages Creuse residents to make reports
The Regional Health Agency calls on Creusois to do more reports. The Sardent home might have been discovered in this way. If you get bitten a lot, or if you see a striped mosquito, don’t hesitate to take a photo of it and send it to the official website ici.
Several characteristics should alert you:
- it stings during the day ! Unlike the common mosquito which spends the night biting you and whose noisy flight prevents you from closing your eyes, the tiger mosquito is silent and diurnal, that is to say it bites mainly during the day and in the evening. .
- Black and white striped : rather than “tabby”, the tiger mosquito has black and white “zebra” stripes all over its body and legs. It is also characterized by the presence of a white line along its thorax.
- He is small and lively : from the name “tiger”, it only retains speed and ferocity. In terms of size, it is smaller than a 1 euro cent coin.
Why has Creuse resisted until now?
As we mentioned above, the tiger mosquito moves poorly with its small wings. “On the other hand, he takes the plane, the train and the car. People bring it with them from contaminated areas“, summarizes Elisabeth Kouvtanovitch, head of the environmental health department at the Creuse ARS. The Creuse was perhaps protected because it did not have no airport and that it is relatively far from major communication routes.
Its relatively cold climate and extensive habitat may also have slowed the arrival of this tropical mosquito. But Elisabeth Kouvtanovitch is categorical: “it will arrive eventually. The question is when“.
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