how to fight against the expansion of the tiger mosquito?

Dengue fever is transmitted by the tiger mosquito. While the number of cases of this viral disease is currently increasing sharply, health authorities recommend the greatest vigilance.

It is advisable, for our health, to eat a balanced diet, to play sports, to wear sunscreen and well: it is also preferable to chase away stagnant water around your home. This is the very serious message from health authorities as the tiger mosquito season approaches.

The number of imported cases of dengue fever, a viral disease transmitted by this famous tiger mosquito, aedes albopictus, has increased 12-fold compared to the same period of 2023 in mainland France, alerted the Director General of Health on Tuesday April 23. We are in an unprecedented situation, warns the General Directorate of Health, with since the start of 2024, 1,679 imported cases of this disease. When we talk about imported cases, this means that the patients were contaminated during stays in an endemic area, particularly in the Antilles, an area which is currently experiencing, like the entire Americas and Caribbean region, an exceptional outbreak of cases. These travelers therefore return to mainland France with this virus, which can cause more or less pronounced flu symptoms. In 1% of cases, a more serious hemorrhagic form may also occur.

Fears for this year

Dengue is not transmitted from human to human, but only through mosquitoes. The authorities are concerned about these imported cases because if a tiger mosquito bites an infected person who returns from a trip, and who is therefore carrying the virus, this mosquito will then become a vector of dengue fever, for the other people it bites. This is how indigenous chains of contamination can be created. Some 50 cases were recorded in 2023. This year, with the mix of tourists expected at the time of the Olympic Games, and a presence of the tiger mosquito which extends across the territory, it is now found in 78 departments out of 96 mainland France, the number of imported cases and indigenous cases is likely to increase.

To avoid contamination, it is somehow necessary to offer “neither shelter nor food” to this tiger mosquito. It is recommended to empty stagnant water from flower pots and gutters between May and November, so as not to offer it shelter. The cover is the blood that this mosquito takes when it bites: so prevention also involves protecting yourself with repellents, and long clothing, when traveling and for three weeks upon returning from a risk area. A vaccine against dengue fever should be available soon. The High Health Authority will issue its opinion on the subject in June.