Ouagadougou - Post Report Question and Answers
Are there any unusual problems with insects or other infestations in housing?
Mosquitos can be a real beast during certain seasons at certain times, but not always. Worse in the rainy seasons at dusk. Lots of geckos/lizards, but they are harmless and rarely an issue inside. - Jun 2020
Houses are infested with ants and lizards. Mosquitos, too, as this is a malaria and dengue zone. - Oct 2019
Ants everywhere in the house. Mosquitos, flies and lizards. - Jul 2019
Ants, mosquitos, flies, and lizards everywhere. - Jul 2019
Bugs are everywhere. Mosquitoes, flies, ants, cockroaches. One house had a really bad termite problem. Geckos are your friends, they eat the bugs. - Dec 2017
Malaria is endemic here, including in Ouagadougou, and taking malarone or your favorite malaria prophylactic is essential. The Embassy now provides malarone free of cost. Something like one-third of the local population contracts malaria every year. It's a way of life here. Otherwise, the insects are not as bad as I expected. It's hardly the biblical clouds of mosquitoes I know well from the mountains in the Northwest in June, but the mosquitoes that you do see carry a deadly disease, so there is that. We encountered a few other large, creepy bugs, plus an ant problem in our kitchen, but overall it's been manageable. - May 2016
Malaria carrying mosquitoes, flies, ants, termites in some homes. Plenty of geckos in and out of our homes to help with the mosquito population! - Aug 2015
The regular stuff - mosquitoes, roaches, flies, termites, ants... - Jun 2015
We have no problems with insects in our house and don't have AS many mosquitos in/near our home. Older homes, in the greener downtown area have more mosquitoes. - Jan 2015
Mosquitoes and more mosquitoes. Flies start to be an issue in the dry season as they search for water sources. - Jul 2013
We didn't have too many problems with insects. We told our kids from the start that finding a gecko in the house was good luck and they do help keep the bug population down. I called exterminators to take care of a few wasp nests, termites, and we occasionally found a cockroach in the house. Really though, it wasn't a big problem. We were one of the lucky houses that didn't have a big mosquito issue, though many of the embassy houses did. - Jul 2013
Malaria from mosquitoes is a real risk here, but most insects in the home are ants and the occasional large cockroach that might crawl in from under the door from time to time. - Apr 2013
Lots of insect problems...it's impossible to keep ants and spiders out of your house. Lizards and geckos also get into your house and will help control the population. Insect problems do seem to be somewhat seasonal. - Nov 2012
Lots of mosquitoes in the rainy season (July-Sept). - Aug 2010
