Lusaka - Post Report Question and Answers
Are there any unusual problems with insects or other infestations in housing?
The ants will get on your nerves sometimes but it's seasonal. Snails too, seasonal. Termites can be an issue. Lusaka is not a malaria city, but if you go out of town you'll want your anti-malarials. - Mar 2022
Not really. There are flattie spiders, lizards, mosquitos, etc., but nothing crazy. We sometimes find chameleons in our backyards and those on Leopards Hill Road and farther out get snakes sometimes. - Dec 2021
You get used to the bugs. We haven't had any major issues in our house, just a few ants and wall spiders. We also get lizards in the house. Other people have had putsi fly issues. Mosquitos are less common in Lusaka but definitely a concern in the provinces, and malaria is prevalent. - Feb 2018
Lots of ants, flying termites for the first couple of weeks of the rainy season and mosquitoes. - Nov 2017
Bugs are everywhere, but usually not a problem! Ants will come marching in during cold season. Mosquitoes and flies are annoying during the rainy season, so make sure to use that bed net and wear repellent. Big wall crab spiders (called "flatties," here) can be jarring but are harmless. Roaches will show up in rainy season, but can be managed. Six-inch centipedes (called chongololos and kind of cute), crickets, mole crickets, toe-pinchers, locusts, and other small insects will wander or fly into your house from time to time, but aren't issues.
We've also had a dog, a cat, several birds, lizards, and a very small snake in our house, but they disappeared quickly when our dog saw them. Termites show up during the first rains and can be quite beautiful flying around in twilight, as long as you keep your screens shut! Snakes can be a problem, so make sure your gardener knows how to identify and deal with the bad ones (mambas, puff adders, boomslang, and cobras). Owls are also good to have around to control snakes and rodents, but they come and go as they please. There are fantastic birds in Lusaka, so keep an eye out for colorful fly-catchers, rollers, kingfishers, widowbirds, cordon bleu, red bishops, turacos, peacocks, hornbills, raptors, and more! - Jan 2017
Ants, ants everywhere, especially when it starts to get cold. - Jun 2016
Mosquitoes are prevalent but many only take anti-malarial drugs when traveling outside of the city. Otherwise, ants and cockroaches can pop up at certain times of the year. - May 2016
In Lusaka there isn't malaria, but outside of Lusaka (where all the activities are) there is malaria so prophylaxis is recommended when traveling. Also, the tse-tse flies can be really really awful in some parks. If you are not familiar with tse-tses, they are similar to horseflies in that they bite. But somehow the bites seem much more painful. Many people have distinct reactions (swelling, itching, pain, oozing) that can be quite dramatic. Tse-tses can carry sleeping sickness, although that seems very uncommon. Also, they are practically impossible to kill or repel. You may find very large cockroaches, ants, flatties (flat spiders) and various other insects in your house--and skinks and geckos trying to solve that problem for you too. - Mar 2015
Cockroaches, ants, mosquitoes outside of Lusaka - the real risk for malaria is outside of the capital. - Aug 2014
Small ants, spiders and geckos. Very easy to manage. - Jan 2014
Outside of Lusaka malaria prophylaxis is necessary in most of the country. Ants, termites, cockroaches, spiders...all sorts of insects are here, but with luck and a clean house, hopefully not too much of a problem indoors. Putsi flies (or mango flies or tumbu flies) are also a problem in the wet season if one is not careful. These flies lay their eggs on wet materal like towels damp from swimming or seat cushions left in the rain. When the eggs come in contact with skin they can burrow right on in, resulting in some pretty large maggots within a week or so right there in one's leg, scalp, shoulder or any other body part. Totally and completely disgusting, but easy to treat and not dangerous. Also avoidable if one is careful to use a clothes dryer rather than a line, fresh towels, and one brings in cushions, etc., at night and when not in use. Despite the way this all sounds, insects are not a huge or particular problem here, really! - Apr 2013
The mosquitos carry malaria - fortunately there aren't many of them in Lusaka itself. Outside the city, be prepared for this. There are tse-tse flies in parts of the country, particularly in Kafue National Park - even 100% deet won't repel these so wear long clothes - just don't wear white or blue, as these seem especially yummy to tse-tse! - Jul 2010
None in Lusaka. - Mar 2009
Mosquitos, putsifly, the normal African dudus. - Mar 2009
