Île-de-France on alert towards the tiger mosquito earlier than the Paris Olympic Games | EUROtoday

Published on : 05/30/2024 – 07:29

4 minutes

In Île-de-France, the bolstered surveillance marketing campaign for the tiger mosquito is in full swing, a couple of weeks earlier than the opening of the Paris Olympic Games, an occasion which, by encouraging the blending of populations, might contribute to an upsurge in ailments like dengue.

On the outskirts of the Stade de France, the place varied Olympic occasions will happen corresponding to athletics, one of many important disciplines, Kevin Meignan involves take inventory of a nesting entice put in a couple of weeks in the past in an alley lined with grass .

This bucket – potential egg-laying website – accommodates water and a sq. of polystyrene, which is able to help the egg-laying. It is roofed with a steel grid to forestall the polystyrene from escaping out of the entice.

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“The objective is to monitor the presence of the tiger mosquito,” explains to AFP the pinnacle of vector management for the Regional Mosquito Control Agency (ARD), operator of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) in Ile-de-France. of France.

Since 1^er May and till November 30, the principle interval of exercise of this disease-carrying mosquito, the well being authorities will in actual fact scrutinize the presence of Aedes albopictus – its scientific identify –, improve consciousness messages and set off attainable mosquito management operations.

“In this period of time, we will come every month to remove the polystyrene contained in the trap to study it in the laboratory to find out if there are tiger mosquito eggs and, if there are, how many” , continues Kevin Meignan.

Avoid larvae

By eradicating the entice, he pours a organic product into the water “to prevent any potential development of larvae”.

Arriving in France in 2004, the tiger mosquito has steadily established itself over a big a part of metropolitan territory. At 1^er January, it was current in 78 out of 96 departments.

Potentially a vector of viruses corresponding to dengue, chikungunya and Zika, it’s notably current all through the Île-de-France area.

In mid-April, well being authorities warned of an unprecedented state of affairs: a document variety of imported instances of dengue fever – almost 1,700 – recorded in mainland France because the begin of 2024. Since then, the document has been reached for your entire yr 2023 (2,019) was crushed.

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These imported instances concern individuals who have traveled to areas of the world the place this virus circulates endemically: the French West Indies and extra broadly this yr Latin America and the Caribbean.

As “the significant number of imported cases could lead to the establishment in France of indigenous chains of transmission”, the Director General of Health, Grégory Emery, known as for the best vigilance.

An “indigenous case” signifies that the particular person didn’t journey to areas the place the virus is broadly circulating however was bitten by a mosquito that turned contaminated by way of contact with an contaminated traveler.

More than 500 traps

The prevention messages will probably be “all the more important as in the coming weeks France will host” the Olympic and Paralympic Games, throughout which “many travelers will come to metropolitan territory”, recalled the Director General of Health.

In anticipation, the surveillance system is, this yr, “reinforced”, assures the Regional Health Agency of Île-de-France.

Awareness and prevention data for vacationers departing from or arriving in endemic areas will probably be disseminated particularly at airports.

More than 500 nesting traps will probably be positioned all through the area. “This year, we favored places for large gatherings,” underlines Cécile Somarriba, director of monitoring and well being safety on the ARS.

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These traps will probably be deployed across the Stade de France, the Olympic village, and even sure “fan zones”.

“In recent years, the population of tiger mosquitoes has completely exploded, everywhere in Île-de-France. So inevitably, the health risk is increasing,” warns Kevin Meignan.

The ARS additionally encourages people to take away stagnant water, potential breeding grounds, inside and round their properties.

“There are simple actions that can reduce the spread of the tiger mosquito,” assures Cécile Somarriba, whereas recognizing that this can be a “major issue” for the area.

With AFP