Science at UM [S03-ep31]: Dear Mosquitoes
This week on the season finale of *A l’UM: The Science*: Frédéric Simard from the Mivegec and Jean-Michel Salles from the CEEM talk to us about the cost of mosquitoes, a topic that’s generating a lot of buzz. In the second half of the show, we’re heading to Mivegec where Philippe Boussès opens the doors to a collection of very special arthropods… A program co-produced with Divergence FM and broadcast every Wednesday at 6 p.m. on 93.9.
And here we are again! This is the last episode of the season; after this, all that remains is the promise of the holidays ahead, with the blue of the sky and the sea as our only horizons, and the weight of files, orders, projects, and students traded for a few weeks for the weight of suitcases!
Maybe you’ve even started making your little list. But have you thought about mosquito repellent?
An international study coordinated by scientists from IRD, CNRS, and MNHN and published on May 17, 2024, in the journal *Science of The Total Environment* reveals a massive increase in the global economic cost of the invasive mosquitoes *Aedes aegypti* and *Aedes albopictus*—the latter better known by the name “tiger mosquito”— vectors of dengue, chikungunya, and the Zika virus over the past few decades.
Between 1975 and 2020, the total costs recorded amounted to $94.7 billion, a figure that is likely significantly underestimated according to our two guests who participated in this study: Frédéric Simard, a biologist at the Mivegec laboratory (infectious diseases and vectors: ecology, genetics, evolution, and control), and Jean-Michel Salles, an economist at CEEM, the Center for Environmental Economics in Montpellier.
For more information:
- Read the press release: Massive increase in the global economic cost of invasive mosquitoes and the diseases they transmit.
- Also listen to the episode of *A l’UM la science* on “The Cost of Invasive Species” at CIRAD’s wood library with Jean-Michel Salles.
In the second half of the program, we’ll take you to the Institute of Research and Development (IRD), specifically to the Mivegec laboratory (Infectious Diseases and Vectors: Ecology, Genetics, Evolution, and Control), to explore Europe’s largest collection of medically significant arthropods, with specimens from 97 countries. Welcome to the Arim collection; Philippe Boussès will be introducing you to these little creatures.
At UM Science, you’ve got the program—let’s get started!
Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reporting and editing: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Directed by: Tom Chevalier / Alice Rollet
Tune in to the show “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9
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