Following the proven cases of Chikungunya in the Gard, a preventive demoustication campaign took place on the night of Friday 1 to Saturday August 2 in the town of Poulx.
With three proven cases and suspect cases under analysis, the village of Poulx, very close to Nîmes in the Gard, is directly affected by the chikungunya. Not to mention epidemic, the regional health agency has taken matters into their hands to identify so -called indigenous cases and set up targeted treatment of certain districts considered as potential homes.
Investigators travel the village
For two days, investigators have been crisscrossing the streets of the south-east of the town in search of tiger mosquito larvae, present in forgotten stagnant water at the bottom of a pot, a tire or the fold of a tarpaulin. They take advantage of it to ask questions about possible symptoms felt by the inhabitants, fever, pain, muscular and joint ankylosis, headache, rashes … In the event of a positive response, it is Occitanie ARS which takes over and prescribes a blood analysis. The final results will be known eight days later.
Forty gardens treated
In the meantime, a first preventive demoustication campaign has just taken place last night with, in addition to the streets, the treatment of around forty gardens. Four technicians from the company Altopicus based in Bayonne, put on their white combination, their mask and entered their thermonebulizer to spray in the form of drill clips, a product based on Pyrethrioid, of the same kind as that used by the anti-mosquito-sold diffusers sold in the trade.
This type of campaign had already been organized in Bernis in June, but had required two nights of treatment to obtain a conclusive result. Poulx would benefit from the same scheme. In the meantime, the vigilance concerning the residual water points is essential, as the reporting of any suspicious symptoms with a doctor.
Chikungunya: What symptoms should alert?
“Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes in particular (tiger mosquito), recalls the Ministry of Labor, Health, Solidarity and Families, which explains that “The disease can go unnoticed or manifest on average 4 to 7 days after an infective bite, by the sudden appearance of a high fever (greater than 38.5 ° C) associated with headache as well as significant muscle and articular pain affecting the ends of the limbs (wrists, ankles, phalanges).” The ministry adds that other symptoms can also be associated, “Like a conjunctivitis, a rash, nausea”.
