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According to the website Vigilance Moustiques, the majority of France is seeing red because of the tiger mosquito. Enough to worry a good number of French people.
Since 2004, the tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) has continued to invade France. It has even become permanently established in a good number of French departments. So much so that the majority of the territory (90%) would now be “on red, orange or purple alert“, according to the site “Mosquito watch”.
Maximum alert level
While the presence of the tiger mosquito in the territory – assessed by colours (green, yellow, orange, red and purple) – continues to gain ground (nearly 90% of France has a red-orange coat), twelve departments are already subject to increased surveillance due to contamination by dengue fever or chikungunya.
These are Drôme, Alpes-Maritimes, Val-de-Marne, Bouches-du-Rhône, Gard, Hérault, Pyrénées-Orientales, Mayotte, Réunion, Guyana, Martinique and Guadeloupe.
In these risk areas, “the tiger mosquito has been intercepted or observed there sporadically.”
But the infestation does not stop there. This year, nine other departments have become orange: Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Eure, Calvados, Manche, Sarthe, Creuse and Vosges.
Seven departments have also moved to purple alert (in other words, the maximum alert level).
It’s a color “reserved for departments where one or more indigenous cases of disease have been recorded in 2023”explains the specialist site.
Dengue, chikungunya or zika: an increased risk during the Olympic Games
Another cause for concern: the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. For experts from the “Vigilance mouches” website, they represent a real threat.
“The expected tourist flows will increase the risk of imported cases of dengue fever, chikungunya or zika“, they warn.
Even worse, when these cases occur “in red or purple departments, the risk of developing a focus of indigenous cases increases with it“.
The example of Italy illustrates this phenomenon well. After the arrival of an infected person on the territory, more than 300 cases were recorded in just a month and a half.
This phenomenon shows the importance of increased surveillance in high-risk regions and the (necessary) implementation of preventive measures to limit the spread of diseases.
What are the right actions to take?
According to the site Public Health Franceseveral good reflexes can help limit the risks of bites in regions where infected mosquitoes may circulate:
- Wear loose, covering clothing;
- Use skin-based mosquito repellents;
- Use fans;
- Sleeping under a mosquito net;
- Connecting electric diffusers;
- Use coils outdoors.
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