It has become the number one topic of conversation in a large part of the Pays-de-la-Loire region, particularly in the Nantes and Angevin metropolises. Mosquitoes are swarming and the residents, already annoyed at times this summer, are at their wits’ end. The terraces of certain traders are attacked, while schools ask parents to spray their children with a repellent product first thing in the morning. “Never seen before,” we read on social networks. This Friday evening, the regional health agency (ARS) confirms a “proliferation” of mosquitoes in the region, sometimes visible in the form of “clouds”, especially since the weekend of September 9-10.
“These clouds are linked to the current hot and humid weather,” she explains, specifying that the “species mainly present locally and in these clouds are not known to be disease vectors”. “They are therefore not subject to surveillance by the ARS. On the other hand, their presence can cause inconvenience due to their number and the associated bites,” indicates the agency.
The tiger mosquito not so common
If the tiger mosquito, also called aedes albopictusEast well present in Pays-de-la-Loire, the five departments are considered “lowly colonized”. “Not all mosquitoes are tigers!” There are around sixty species of mosquitoes in France,” reassures the ARS. At the start of the week, however, a targeted mosquito control campaign against the tiger had to be carried out in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, in the suburbs of Nantes, after a case of dengue fever.
To avoid bites, the ARS recommends wearing long clothing, applying skin repellent products and installing a mosquito net on strollers. Fans, electric insecticide diffusers, electric rackets and smoke coils (outdoors) are also recommended. Bracelets, essential oils and ultrasonic sound devices are not recommended.