The Department of Health Affairs Calls for Vigilance with Regard to the Tiger Mosquito, an Insect that Carries Several Communicable Diseases

©DR

The mosquito Aedes albopictus, commonly known as the tiger mosquito, arrived in Menton in 2004 and has since colonised the Alpes-Maritimes and the Principality of Monaco.  This mosquito can be the vector of viral diseases such as Chikungunya, Dengue and Zika.

How to recognise a tiger mosquito

The tiger mosquito is less than one centimetre long.  It is easily recognisable by the black and white stripes on its body and legs and totally black wings.  Finally, since the tiger mosquito is active during the day, it is necessary to protect yourself during the daytime.

Risk prevention:

None of the diseases that this insect can carry (Chikungunya, Dengue and Zika) can be transmitted directly from one person to another.  On the other hand, if the mosquito bites an infected person, it can transmit the virus to a healthy person via a new bite.

Preventing these diseases from an imported case (a person who has stayed in an endemic area and who presents with the disease on return) is therefore based on the following recommendations:

* Eliminating mosquitoes in public spaces and on construction sites

* Reducing the number of mosquitoes by removing standing water on terraces and in gardens (cups, pots, vases, gutters, etc.)

* Repelling mosquitoes with appropriate skin sprays or mosquito-repellent diffusers and coils

* Using mosquito nets on windows and beds.

Symptoms that suggest disease:

When a person returns from travelling, Chikungunya or Dengue fever is suspected if the following  symptoms are present:

- a fever or more than 38.5°C, with sudden onset

- at least one of the following signs:  headache, arthralgia, myalgia, low back pain or retro-orbital pain.

Zika virus disease is suspected in the case of a cutaneous eruption resembling exanthema (with or without fever) and at least two of the following signs:  conjunctival hyperemia, arthralgia and myalgia.

The diagnosis is confirmed with a blood test.

What to do in case of doubt:

In case of doubt, and while waiting for an emergency consultation with a GP or the Emergency Department of the Princess Grace Hospital, patients and their close family and friends are strongly recommended to apply an insect repellent appropriate for Aedes albopictus to the skin.