16:45 24.05.2020(updated 16:50 24.05.2020) Short url
–
The tiger mosquito has emerged from hibernation and seven new departments appear in red alert, which means that in more than half of the territory this insect is officially declared “established and active”.
–
The tiger mosquito has colonized five continents in less than 20 years and has spread in many French departments since 2006. Currently, 58 departments, mainly from the south of France, are placed on red alert, including Paris, according to the Vigilance Moustiques website. . By adding the departments in orange vigilance, 65% of the French territory is colonized.
After the Covid-19, the “Tiger Mosquito”, the VIGILANCEMOUSTIQUES card, 7 new departments appear in red alert, ie 58 departments now concerned
The tiger mosquito is a vector of the dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses pic.twitter.com/SotomyChid
– Donald (@DonaldDucket) May 24, 2020
–
For the regions in red alert, this means that the tiger mosquito “is declared officially established and active there”, while in the departments in orange vigilance, which are nine in number, the mosquito “was punctually caught in the five recent years, “says the site.
Besides, the rest of the territory is in yellow alert and no more departments are in green.
The tiger mosquito is aptly named because its legs and body are streaked with black and white. It is generally smaller than the common mosquito and carries many diseases, such as the Zika virus or the dengue and chikungunya viruses.
Should we panic?
A question that probably interests more than one: can the tiger mosquito transmit the coronavirus? Indeed, the insect “is capable, in the laboratory, of transmitting 26 different viruses to humans,” said Anna-Bella Failloux, head of the Arbovirus and Insect Vectors laboratory at the Institut Pasteur, in Republican Berry.
“Patients with Covid-19 do not develop enough virus in the blood to infect the mosquito,” she said, adding, however, “all possibilities remain open at this stage.”
The information site Moustique-tigre.info recalls in this context that the bite of the tiger mosquito is “completely benign even if, in certain cases, it can cause inflammations or allergic reactions”.
“To transmit these viruses, it [le moustique, ndlr] must first have bitten an infected person, “notes the site.
As for the tiger mosquito reporting portal, which provides information on this insect and offers to report its presence, it also calls for a distinction:
“Be careful, not everything that flies is a mosquito, not every mosquito is a tiger mosquito.”
– .
