Antananarivo - Post Report Question and Answers
Are there any unusual problems with insects or other infestations in housing?
No. - Jul 2020
Even after 6 years in sub-Saharan Africa, I'd never experienced mosquitoes like the ones here, which come out in huge swarms at dusk. Very few during the day or at night, but there's about 1.5 hours in the evening where I avoid being outside during the mosquito season. Also, oddly, I have found the mosquitoes to be worse during the dry season than during the wet season. Maybe I'm crazy. - Mar 2017
Since Tana is in the Highlands, we are above the malaria zone, so antimalarials are not really needed here. If you go out of town though, malaria is present throughout the country. There is Plague here (bubonic and pulmonic) but you have to really be in a bad setting to be exposed to that. Schistosomiasis is in virtually all standing fresh water - Jun 2016
You name it, Madagascar has it. Ants, mosquitoes, 3-4-inch cockroaches, termites, locusts... - Oct 2015
The usual assortment of insects (lots of mosquitoes) and quite a few indigenous ones you won't recognize. Once I found a moth plastered to the underside of my sink that was bigger than my hand. The older wooden plank floors in traditional and historic houses around Tana are favorites with fleas, so take precautions (for your mattress as well). - Mar 2015
There are lots of mosquitoes from July through November. While there is no malaria in Tana the mosquitoes are very aggressive, loud and painful. You must sleep under a mosquito net, and even then the constant buzzing is really annoying. But, from December through May/June the mosquitoes all but disappear - you can go without a net, especially if you have window screens (all US Embassy housing has screens). Other than that, there are the typical bugs: ants, roaches (no hissing ones that we have seen), and lots of very interesting bugs that you've never seen before. Except for the mosquitoes, the insects aren't bothersome, and most are actually quite fascinating. - Apr 2013
Even though I've always heard about them before arrival, I have yet to see a Madagascar hissing cockroach! - Apr 2010
