This is good news for July fans who have planned to leave as soon as the summer season officially begins: there are now only a few weeks left before the big departure for the summer holidays. A much-awaited moment for a large part of these vacationers who, with their morale at half mast, had to endure the gloomy spring weather. And if a large majority has planned to go to the South of France to find sunshine and good weather, many have not planned this detail: the tiger mosquito.
This breed of mosquito, which appeared in 2004, has enjoyed the hot, humid and stormy weather of recent months relatively well. So much so that its population, in some places, has doubled. And if all means are implemented by the government to avoid the proliferation of the tiger mosquitoit can very quickly make your vacation hell.
Real scourgeit attacks at nightfall and can wreak havoc: it is capable of stinging three to four times in a row, and can even transmit diseases dangerous to health such as dengue, malaria or chikungunya.
This French destination relatively spared from the tiger mosquito this summer 2024
To have a pleasant vacation, and to avoid leaving home sick or with bites everywhere, there is a solution: choose your destination carefully. It is therefore better for you, if you wish to avoid the tiger mosquito at all costs, not to choose a destination in the south of France, but rather in
Normandy. In fact, very few mosquitoes have still been detected there, and only near Rouen, in Seine-Maritime, since March 2024. Another department concerned?
The Creuse.
It is probably one of the only departments in France to have such a low tiger mosquito population. The reason ? The tiger mosquito is found a lot in the cities and only travels through human means.
“On the other hand, he takes the plane, the train and the car. People bring him back with them from contaminated areas”, explains Elisabeth Kouvtanovitch, head of the environmental health department at the ARS de la Creuse, to our colleagues at France Bleu. The fact that there are no airports or major communication routes may have played a more important role than one might think.
The particular climate of the Creuserelatively cold, may also have slowed down its adaptation to the department.
The departments to absolutely avoid this summer 2024 if you don’t want a tiger mosquito
If we trust the “Mosquito Vigilance” site, certain departments are not ideal if you want to spend a quiet vacation. According to the map on the site, which indicates the areas where the tiger mosquito is present according to five categories (green, yellow, orange, red and purple), they would be 74 to be on red alert (or 80% of the territory). Figures which have risen again this year, with the arrival in this category of the Seine-Maritime, Oise and Moselle.
Seven other departments, again this year, have also gone into purple vigilance. Finally, if you fear mosquitoes, or if you simply want to avoid them, try as much as possible not to go to the south of France. The Alpes-Maritimes and the Pyrénées-Orientalesin particular, are departments known for their large population of mosquitoes, and for having been the origin of endemic foci two years in a row.
How to scare away tiger mosquitoes?
Your vacation is already planned in these areas and you cannot and do not want to cancel due to the presence of the
tiger mosquito ? This is completely normal. To protect yourself and spend evenings in peace, there are certain solutions. For example, you can broadcast some unbearable smells for the tiger mosquito.
photo credit: Shutterstock
This is particularly the case of lemongrass essential oil or others such as lavender, peppermint or eucalyptus. For more effectiveness, use a diffuser, spray the areas where mosquitoes are most present yourself or use candles.
