This French Life

Keep an eye out for ticks in France

IN France ticks are most common between May and October when temperatures are between 7 and 25°C and they can pose real dangers to both you and your pets.

It is possible to buy Frontline spray-on and spot treatment that can be applied to cats and dogs, make sure your pet doesn’t try and shake it off once applied.

But also make a habit of looking over your pet for the distinctive tick, there is a larger black variety and a small red coloured one.

Learning how to stay clear of ticks yourself and safely unhook them from your skin is an important skill to have, because they can pass on Lyme disease, which can see people suffer flu-like symptoms for a long period of time.

The UK-based Lyme Disease Association works to raise awareness amongst doctors of the symptoms and offers advice and tips on the illness.

Here are some tips you can use next time you are out in the forest and long grass:

- Wear light-coloured clothing that shows ticks easily and covers arms and legs. Wear long-sleeved shirts, tight at the wrists, long pants tight at the ankles and tucked into socks, and shoes covering the whole foot.

- Apply diethyltoluamide (e.g., DEET) to skin and permethrin to clothing. But do not apply it to clothing while it is being worn, and allow the clothing to thoroughly dry before wearing.

- Perform daily checks of skin for ticks. Check children two to three times a day. Check under waistbands, sock tops, under arms and any other moist areas.

- Use a tick removal tool that are available from vets and pet shops that are designed to be twisted to facilitate removal.

- Suffocating the tick with oil, cream etc. may induce injection of more infectious material into the body, so do not use petroleum jelly, burning matches or cigarette ends, nail polish or other products.

- Be aware that engorged ticks will contain potentially infected blood, which may splatter when crushed. Do not crush the tick with your fingers and do not allow the crushed tick or the blood it carried to contact your skin.

The city-loving ‘devil bug’ lands in France and continues its march around the world

An adult Halyomorpha.
Romain Garrouste, Author provided

By Romain Garrouste, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN) – Sorbonne Universités

OF all places, Paris. In 2012, while writing a book on the Hemiptera order of insects – it includes aphids, cicadas and others – I made a new discovery, and an unwelcome one: a new invasive species in the heart of the French capital, in the Jardin des Plantes.

Halyomorpha halys is a large (up to 1.7 cm) grey Pentatomid – known colloquially as stink bugs. Originally from China, Korea and Japan, they began to invade the world about 20 years ago, travelling thanks to human activities. The standard English-language name for Halyomorpha halys is the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), but in France it has also been called the “punaise diabolique” – the diabolical or devil bug – because of its impressive size, fondness for large-scale gatherings and seriousness as an agricultural pest.

Since September 2016, I have detected its presence in several other Parisian gardens in a larval state, meaning that it is reproducing. This is a silent invasion, despite the insect’s large size and lack of discretion in the fall, when it seeks to enter homes. It is this behaviour that has given the nickname of “evil”: By September 2017, it had become a serious problem in France, with some residents reporting swarms of bugs essentially knocking on windows seeking to enter homes and apartments.

Warning over the presence of tiger mosquito

THE recent warm weather across France has sparked into life the tiger mosquito, or moustique tigre, which can carry diseases such as chikungunya, dengue and Zika.

The website Vigilance-Moustique warns that 42 départements are currently in the red zone for the presence of the mosquito, with the Dordogne amongst them.

The tiger mosquito was first spotted in the Dordogne in 2015 and homeowners can reduce the risk of its spread by ensuring stagnant water is not left standing as it provides a breeding ground for the insect.

Top image by James Gathany/CDC - This media comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Image Library (PHIL), with identification number #4487.

Hay fever sufferers warned of record pollen levels in France

HAY fever sufferers across France are being warned of high levels of pollen, with the latest update from Le Réseau National de Surveillance Aérobiologique (RNSA) website showing record levels of birch tree pollen.

Much of the RNSA map is covered in red, highlighting the birch tree pollen levels and warns sufferers to take precautions and have a supply of their required medications, with forecasts showing little respite in the coming weeks.

The RNSA website is a useful stop for hay fever sufferers as there are guides and regular updates available.

There are historical records for towns and cities across France enabling you to spot when pollen levels are at their highest.

One feature of the RNSA website that could prove particularly useful is a weekly email service that allows you to choose up to three départements and get updates to your inbox about pollen level risks.

France's autism problem – and its roots in psychoanalysis

By Richard Bates, University of Nottingham

FRANCE has a problem with autism. The country’s highest administrative court estimates that there are 700,000 autistic people in France. However, only 75,000 are diagnosed. Autistic children have historically been diagnosed later in France than in neighbouring countries. They have often been excluded from mainstream education and lacked access to support services and extracurricular activities.

Many French autists are confined to day hospitals and live-in institutions, isolated from the community and frequently unable to communicate through speech – whereas in the US, for example, public schools are required by law to fully include autistic children in mainstream classroom education. For years, families in northeast France have taken autistic children to Belgium, to access its superior services.

Flu at epidemic levels across many regions of France

THE number of people suffering from flu conditions is at epidemic levels across many regions of France.

The latest report from health authorities, Santé Publique France, shows that eight regions of France are currently at epidemic levels of illness, while four are showing pre-epidemic results.

More than 3,200 people ended up being taken into hospital last week, with the number of doctor consultations for flu hitting 193 per 100,000 inhabitants.

With flu likely to be making people ill long into February then checking up on whether you are able to have a flu jab might be some protection, but also ensuring you regularly wash your hands and clean surfaces may keep the bugs away.

Related: Warning over increase in cases of gastroenteritis in France

Glide across the basketball court and get fit with Basket Santé

DON'T get bounced around the basketball court, take it easy and get fit with Basket Santé being staged for the first time at the sports centre in Villefranche-du-Périgord.

The basketball club in the village is holding its first session of Basket Santé aimed at older people to help boost their health, but also balance and movement skills, without the rough and tumble of the actual game.

Supported by the Fédération Française de BasketBall (FFBB) the first session takes place on Thursday 7 December, from 19h30 to 20h30 with a series of gentle exercises and ball catching games.

There will be no leaping up to the basketball net, or bursting down the wing past the point guard, instead markers are laid out on the court and participants carry and bounce the ball around the obstacles.

Those interested in the event can turn up in the evening and it is hoped that should it prove a success other sessions will be arranged in the near future.

The video below from the FFBB shows an example of the different exercise levels in a Basket Santé session:

Drones to take to the skies to tackle pine processionary caterpillars

I HAVE already noticed the distinctive 'candyfloss' nests of the pine processionary caterpillars high in the trees whilst driving around parts of the Dordogne.

And now drones will take to the skies in Cannes in an attempt to measure and ultimately destroy the nests found in the city.

The 20 Minutes website reports that Inra (Institut National de la recherche Agronomique) will use the drones to spray biological insecticide directly on the nests, with scientists saying now is the best time of year to tackle the caterpillars as they are still young.

Helicopters have been used in the past to spray wide areas, but this technique is now banned, and so the drones will have a lance attached to the body of the machine that will allow a pilot on the ground to guide the drone close to the caterpillars and target the nests.

The pine processionary caterpillars usually fall from the trees in April and it is when you will see the characteristic long lines as they follow each other nose to tail.

And while that is a view of nature to behold, the pine processionary caterpillar has a horrible 'feature', the small hairs on its back are poisonous and can be a terrible irritant if touched.

But cats and dogs are particularly at risk as the fine hairs can become embedded in the mouth, or stomach, and if not spotted quickly and dealt with by a vet, can prove fatal.

France plans to go it alone and ban glyphosate herbicide

DESPITE glyphosate, the key ingredient in the world’s bestselling weedkiller, winning a new five-year lease in Europe, Emmanuel Macron says he plans to ban the herbicide in three years.

A license for glyphosate has been granted by an EU appeal committee, meaning Monsanto's popular weedkiller, Roundup, will remain on shelves and be available for use by farmers and landscape gardeners.

But President Macron was quick to say that a ban on glyphosate in France would be introduced as soon as alternatives were found, and at the latest within three years.

Nine EU member states, including France, voted against the European Commission's proposal to renew glyphosate's licence, with 18 voting in favour and one country abstained.

France was one of nine countries to vote against the European Commission's proposal to renew glyphosate's licence. A total 18 voted in favour of the licence, and one country abstained.

The EU health commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said: “Today’s vote shows that when we all want to, we are able to share and accept our collective responsibility in decision making.”

However, the approval falls far short of the 15-year license the commission had originally sought and it will be this doubt over glyphosate's future that Macron will use to search for alternatives.

Warning over increase in cases of gastroenteritis in France

A WARNING has been issued following a steep increase in the number of cases of gastroenteritis in France.

Three areas in particular, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, the Grand Est and Pays de la Loire have seen levels of illness above recognised epidemic numbers.

The Sentinelles de l'Inserm website, which records levels of different transferable illnesses, has said that 228 cases per 100,000 inhabitants have been recorded in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, 207 per 100,000 in Hauts-de-France and 205 per 100,000 in Pays de la Loire.

The threshold for an epidemic is 170 per 100,000, and currently across the whole of France the gastroenteritis figure stands at 146 per 100,000 people.

Sentinelles de l'Inserm say that it expects the number of people to suffer from 'la gastro' to increase over the coming weeks and to make sure they take precautions to stay clear of the bug.

Doctors say that people should regularly wash their hands especially before eating or after going to the toilet, and ensure toilet facilities are kept clean.

If you do go down with gastroenteritis, the illness can last up to three days, you will likely experience vomiting and diarrhoea, with health experts advising you to drink at least two litres of water a day.