While the epidemic fade on Reunion Island, where it caused around twenty deaths, the Grand Est is faced with an unique episode of Aboriginal transmission from Chikungunya. This is a first in the region. Given the precocity and the number of episodes already identified, this “confirms the significant risk of indigenous transmission in metropolitan France,” said Health Public France.
An indigenous case of chikungunya, this virus transmitted by tiger mosquito bites and causing fever and joint pain, means that the contamination took place in the territoryunrelated to a trip abroad. Seven episodes of this type have already been identified in five regions, “including four already affected by Aboriginal transmission episodes in previous years,” said the health agency.
So far, all the indigenous cases reported since the start of the Tiger Mosquito season concerned the south of the metropolis: Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Corsica, Occitanie and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. This year, the cases are The earliest ever observed in France Hexagonal, underlines Public Health France. “Such precocity in the activity season of the mosquito and such a high number of episodes had never been observed so far,” she insists.
Holds strengthen the risk of epidemic
If the number of cases imported from the meeting and the Indian Ocean has decreased, it “remains high” with 712 reports Since the beginning of May, and “has contributed to the early appearance of indigenous transmissions, especially since the strain of the Chikungunya virus circulating in Reunion is well suited to the Aedes Albopictus mosquito”, the agency continues.
The return Holds also strengthens the risk of epidemic in mainland France. High temperatures promote the proliferation of tiger mosquito, a phenomenon amplified by global warming.
Environ 200,000 people were infected with Reunion. Another epidemic is underway in Mayotte, although its exact magnitude remains uncertain.
