Virus-carrying mosquitoes alarm officials in France
PARIS • Aggressive tiger mosquitoes that can carry viruses such as Zika, dengue and chikungunya have spread throughout half of France as health authorities urge holidaymakers to use repellents.
The invasive insect, which originated in Asia and can be recognized from its distinctive black and white striped body and legs, is now prevalent throughout the south and the centre of the country, in the southern Paris suburbs and in pockets in the north. Its numbers — and the area affected — have doubled in the past two years.
The public health authority has warned that 42 of France’s 96 departments are affected. It urged people to be vigilant from May until November and to “drain away stagnant water, where mosquitoes can reproduce, around homes.”
Tiger mosquitoes have propagated an epidemic of dengue fever in the French island of Reunion, in the Indian Ocean, and the health authority fears that returning holidaymakers could bring the virus to mainland France, where it could be spread by tiger mosquitoes. “There is a real risk of creating a local cycle of transmission,” the authority warned in a statement, pointing out that 18 cases of locally transmitted dengue fever were recorded in southern France in 2014 and 2015, and 17 cases of chikungunya on the Riviera last year. Symptoms of dengue and chikungunya include severe joint pain, fever, headaches, weeping eyes and a rash. Officials also warned of the risk that travellers may bring the Zika virus to metropolitan France from French territories in the Caribbean such as Martinique and Guadeloupe, from French Guiana in South America or from countries such as Brazil.
The symptoms of Zika and dengue fever are similar. The disease is often mild, and healthy adults may present no symptoms at all. However, in pregnant women, the Zika virus can spread to the fetus and cause severe birth defects, such as microcephaly, which impedes brain development. It can be spread by mosquitoes or sexually transmitted. Infected babies are born with much smaller heads than normal and the neurological disorder often leads to early death. France was the European country worst affected by the Zika epidemic in South and North America in 2015 and 2016, which caused the World Health Organization to declare an international public health emergency. France reported 1,141 cases of Zika infection between June 2015 and March 2017 — more than half of the 2,133 cases detected in the EU.