It is a vector of dengue, chikungunya or Zika: the tiger mosquito is now established in more than half of the French departments, according to the specialized site Vigilance-mosquitoes which has just published its 2020 map. Six additional departments are now appearing in vigilance rouge, which brings the number of French departments where the tiger mosquito is "established and active" to 57.
Charente, Cher, Loire-Atlantique, Yvelines, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne are coming this year to extend the list of departments concerned. Besides Ile-de-France, the southern two-thirds of France are largely affected, even if Cantal, Creuse and Haute-Vienne, for example, still resist the invader ...
To the 57 departments in red are added 10 departments in orange vigilance, "that is to say that the mosquito has been intercepted there punctually in the last 5 years", underlines Vigilance-mosquitoes. “In all, 67 departments have been colonized or are in the process of being colonized, or nearly 65% of the territory. Indeed, we observe that the departments which are in orange vigilance sooner or later in red vigilance ”, alerts the site.
"The tiger mosquito is essentially urban, notes on its site the Ministry of Health. Its anthropophilic character (which likes places inhabited by man) explains that once installed in a commune or a department, it is practically impossible to get rid of it. Even if its methodology is different from that of Vigilance-mosquitoes, the ministry gives similar figures: according to him, 58 departments are colonized by the tiger mosquito.