Egyptian mosquitoes, Aedes japonicus… After the gradual invasion of the tiger mosquito, originating from the tropical forests of Asia and arriving in France in 2004 thanks to commercial flows, should we fear the arrival of new invaders?
This is what the work of journalist Marc Lomazzi suggests in his recent book France 2050 – RCP 8.5 The black climate scenario*.
A book that anticipates what our daily lives would be like in the light of the worst-case scenario predicted by the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
“Apart from Aedes albopictus, epidemiologists fear two other varieties of mosquitoes. The first is from Africa. Aedes aegypti was in the 19th century at the origin of terrible epidemics of yellow fever and dengue in the countries of the Mediterranean. It could make a comeback in our latitudes thanks to global warming.”says the author.
Member of the Health Risk Monitoring and Anticipation Committee (Covars) and mosquito specialist, Didier Fontenille qualifies: “This Egyptian mosquito was already present in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century: in Spain, Italy, Greece where it was even responsible in 1927 for a serious epidemic of dengue which had caused a thousand deaths. But nothing helps to be unnecessarily alarmist: he has since been eliminated from Europe.”
Spotted in Marseille and Roissy
Closely followed by experts, they are particularly interested in its genetic adaptability. “They can allow it to probably return to more temperate climates. This mosquito benefits from climate change, so we can expect that new territories will be colonized. It is monitored especially in other European countries, in Greece in particular”adds the medical entomologist, specialist in vector-borne diseases (transmitted, in particular, by insects).
In France, Aedes aegypti has been spotted a few times: “It has already been reported once in Marseille [en 2018]it also happened at Roissy airport, but immediately eradicated”, specifies Didier Fontenille.
On our lands, this newcomer, in order to settle, would have to compete with the tiger mosquito which he is fond of in the same places to lay eggs. And the competition is fierce as the striped Aedus albopictus has made a place for itself in three quarters of the country.
Japanese mosquitoes… in the trees
As for the Aedus japonicus, it too has indeed been spotted in France but nothing to cry wolf about, according to our expert. “It lays more in tree hollows, so it is less close to humans. It is already present on the territory, we monitor it. It’s been like that for millions of years: invasive species take advantage of social, climatic changes… Where it becomes a problem is when they unbalance ecosystems and are responsible for health problems. From this point of view, the most problematic species today is definitely the tiger mosquito.”warns Didier Fontenille.