Summer is coming early and with it, the tiger mosquito. Eleven departments of New Aquitaine are colonized by the small insect and the city of Agen wants to fight against it.
With the rise in temperatures, we indulge in dressing lighter and it does not take long to itch. Whose fault is it ? To mosquitoes and more particularly… the tiger mosquito. To fight, the Agenais can now see an eloquent campaign with a crushed mosquito: “The mosquito, that’s how we like it”. It is not surprising to see such a countryside in the heart of the city: the tiger mosquito is essentially urban. “We always have recommendations to raise awareness of the proliferation of the tiger mosquito”, explains Nadège Lauzzana, Deputy Mayor for Public Health and Sanitation, Hygiene and Cleanliness, “in addition to this communication campaign, we are constantly carrying out awareness-raising actions in schools, with individuals because it is a struggle for everyone”. “A beer capsule left upside down and forgotten can become a place of laying if we do not notice it” continues the chosen one.
How to fight against its proliferation?
A real summer scourge, this little insect no bigger than a penny comes noiselessly to disrupt our evenings with well-sent bites. Problem, it can be a carrier of many tropical diseases such as dengue fever (two cases had been identified in the Southeast in 2021), chikungunya or the Zika virus. It’s a smart little one who is particularly tough when it comes to finding a place to deposit its larvae.
To reduce the risk of having mosquitoes at home as much as possible and thereby to fight against their establishment, there are simple actions to take recommended by the ARS Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The most effective protection against the tiger mosquito is to get rid of all potential stagnant water reservoirs in your garden. This is where the larvae develop. A little tip for the water that would stagnate in your flower cups: it is advisable to put sand there. In these cases, even if the liquid stagnates, the mosquito will not be able to lay eggs in it. There are also nest trap models designed to trap mosquito larvae. Each action taken to limit the laying of mosquitoes makes it possible to fight more generally against its spread.
The city of Agen is also implementing permanent eradication actions, as explained by Nadège Lauzzana: “Internally, we work with our parks and gardens teams, the city teams for us too, to eradicate as much as possible spawning grounds. This action by the city goes even further, with consultations with urban planning and building professionals to build taking into account the tiger mosquito. “Everything must now be thought out with the mosquito, it is now an inhabitant of the city” concludes Nadège Lauzzana.