An episode of Aboriginal transmission of chikungunya has been detected in the Grand-Est region, which, with precocity and the number of episodes already identified, “Confirms the significant risk of indigenous transmission” In mainland France, said on Wednesday July 2, public health France. So far, all the indigenous cases noted since the start of the activity season of the Tiger mosquito were located in the south of the metropolis (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Corsica, Occitanie and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes).
“Seven episodes of Aboriginal transmission from Chikungunya were identified in five regions, four of which are already affected by Aboriginal transmission episodes in previous years. For the first time, an Aboriginal transmission episode was identified in the Grand-Est region »note the agency in a weekly assessment.
An indigenous case of chikungunya, virus which is transmitted by tiger mosquito bites and results in fever and joint pain, means that contamination took place on site, not outside the territory.
A risk increased by climatic conditions
This year, Aboriginal cases of Chikungunya are the earliest ever identified in France, recalls Public Health France. “Such precocity in the mosquito activity season and such a high number of episodes had never been observed so far”she insists.
Ce cocktail “Confirms the significant risk of Aboriginal transmission of Chikungunya in hexagonal territory, including in unscathed regions”warns Public Health France, which also points to a link with the epidemic which occurred in Reunion and in the Indian Ocean.
If he has decreased, the number of cases imported from Chikungunya having traveled in Reunion and in the Indian Ocean “Rest high” (712 since the beginning of May) and “Contributes to the early appearance of indigenous transmissions, especially as the strain of the chikungunya virus circulating in Reunion is well suited to the Aedes Albopictus mosquitoes”she adds.
The risk of epidemic transmission in mainland France is also increased by the return of hot weather. High temperatures contribute to the circulation of the Tiger mosquito, a phenomenon accentuated by global warming.
In addition to Reunion, where the epidemic is now frankly reduced with the arrival of southern winter, after having caused around twenty deaths and affected around 200,000 inhabitants, in Mayotte another epidemic of Chikungunya is in progress, of uncertain magnitude.
