“The tiger mosquito is a subject that is gaining momentum, Nièvre is very affected,” begins Carolyne Goin, environmental health engineer at the ARS of Burgundy-Franche-Comté.
At the end of the 2024 summer season, 42% of the Nivernais population lives in a municipality colonized “strongly and permanently” by the tiger mosquito. Sixteen municipalities in the department are permanently colonized: Garchizy, Decize, Fourchambault, Varennes-Vauzelles, Coulanges-lès-Nevers, Nevers, Saint-Léger-des-Vignes, La Machine, Marzy, Clamecy, Dornecy, Saint-Éloi, Challuy , Imphy, La Charité-sur-Loire and Cercy-la-Tour.
“It is an important subject in health because it can be a vector of diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, and the Zika virus. You can get sick without having traveled to a distant country. Its life radius is 150 to 200 meters. It’s a neighborhood-wide problem, which is passed on from person to person,” recalls the professional.
Beyond health issues, the problem of the tiger mosquito raises quality of life issues. “He is still rather aggressive. There is an increasingly perceived notion of nuisance, with complaints from local residents who can no longer eat on their terrace, walk outside, etc. »
Eliminate breeding grounds
To combat the tiger mosquito, it is necessary to reduce the presence of larval breeding sites as much as possible to prevent it from reproducing. “For this, it needs reservoirs or areas of stagnant water such as flower pots, watering cans, toys for children left outside… These elements are mosquito nests! », she adds.
And to conclude: “A female mosquito will lay eggs five times on average in her life. In each clutch, there are approximately 200 eggs. One mosquito can therefore generate a thousand other mosquitoes. We really need to introduce the public to this fight. » A checklist to identify larval breeding sites is made available to people on the ARS website.
