#Virus #vector #colonization #country #progress #eradication #impossible.. #hunt #tiger #mosquito
Dormant during the winter, the aedes albopictus will proliferate as soon as the weather is nice in a few days. The ARS has triggered increased vigilance in Occitania but simple actions are enough to prevent its proliferation: deprive it of water.
Haven’t you been bitten by mosquitoes yet? Rest assured, it’s only a matter of time. Thanks to a cooling of temperatures and an episode of rain, the tiger mosquito, a newcomer to France, has delayed its comeback. But the abundant rains this week will cause the eggs, which were dormant, to hatch during the winter. And it will sting hard!
A public health issue
The Occitanie Regional Health Agency has, like every year, triggered its reinforced alert against the tiger mosquito which runs from May 1st until November 30th. Because, beyond the nuisances, the tiger mosquito is known to transmit “viruses, arboviruses, such as dengue, chikungunya or zika”underlines Betty Zumbo, deputy director of Public Health of the ARS in charge of prevention policy.
In 2023, 211 imported cases of dengue fever were recorded in Occitanie, compared to 56 in 2022. And 23 indigenous cases, still in the region “i.e. more than half of the cases recorded in France”, insists Amandine Cochet, epidemiologist at Santé Publique France. 11 indigenous cases were treated in Perpignan, 9 in Gagnières in Gard and 3 in Montpellier. “We can already foresee very strong import pressure for dengue fever in 2024 due to numerous exchanges with the Antilles and Latin America, particularly Argentina and Brazil”. But also the Olympics in Paris.
Totally colonized Occitania
71 French departments have been colonized, the 13 French regions are affected by this invasive species. The 13 departments of Occitanie have tiger mosquitoes.“And once this mosquito is established, it remains for a long time. This is linked to its biology. The eggs of females can withstand periods of drought lasting weeks, months, even years as well as the low temperatures of the winter They wait for the spring rains then when the climate warms up with a lengthening photoperiod., explains mosquitoologist Anna-Bella Failloux. Eradicating it is just impossible. You have to live with it. We can only control its proliferation…
Innovation: from trapping to sterile insect
Science and innovation are on deck to try to limit the proliferation of the tiger mosquito. Many manufacturers have launched into the marketing of traps and some municipalities are experimenting with it, such as in Nice and Marseille. This is also the case in Toulouse which has just distributed 500 traps free of charge in two residential areas of the pink city at a cost of €15,000. A technique which consists of attracting mosquitoes by mimicking human odors but which remains expensive and effective “in closed rooms. Outdoors, odors compete and it loses effectiveness”notes entomologist Anna-Bella Failloux.
Another system which is developing in particular on Reunion Island: the so-called sterile insect technique. The latter is closely followed by entomologist Didier Fontenille. The principle is to release into the wild sterile male mosquitoes (which do not bite) which mate with females and which lay their eggs but which never hatch. A start-up has just been created in Montpellier. Terratis, created by Clelia Olivia and Allan Debelle who aim to provide sterile insect colonies.
The research is progressing but will only be operational within one to two years.
Until then, there remain the traditional repellents and other coils and twists to be used in moderation and of course the indestructible mosquito net…
Hunting stagnant water
The tiger mosquito is found in cities, far from the coast in very small collections of generally clean water. Small roosts are sufficient. The best way to prevent their proliferation is to eliminate this water by emptying the cups, covering the tanks with a mosquito net or using biological repellents.
[#MoustiqueTigre] This is the beginning of the tiger mosquito’s activity period here. To fight against its proliferation and the diseases it can transmit, each of us can adopt the right reflexes by removing our nesting sites. No water, no mosquitoes! pic.twitter.com/TBPhDEyZcC
— ARS Occitanie (@ARS_OC) May 2, 2024
This eliminates up to 80% of the population provided that these simple and very inexpensive actions are carried out on a neighborhood scale. But Anna-Bella Failloux points out that the tiger mosquito has an incredible capacity for adaptation. So there remain repellents of all kinds which are…relatively effective, as well as certain plants or loose, light-colored clothing.
Mosquito control only if…
Unlike the marsh mosquito which is subject to a mosquito control process (see opposite) the tiger mosquito which lives in urban areas is only controlled in the event of a proven indigenous virus. In this case, the ARS intervenes lance “investigations to look for other cases and carry out a targeted mosquito control campaign, to clean up the neighborhood and avoid the spread of the virus”explains Adrian Kriche, doctor with the health management Alert Monitoring unit. “France is probably one of the best countries in the world for the detection, surveillance and management of these diseases, because we have tropical experience”, underlines the Montpellier entomologist, member of Covars, Didier Fontenille. Which will not prevent cases from happening again this year. So be careful.
To know more : moustiquetigre.org
