Race on to make Paris Olympics mosquito-free

PARIS: France is scrambling to make sure that that viruscarrying tiger mosquitos, a growing menace in Europe, do not spoil the Paris Olympics for athletes and fans, with millions of visitors due in the French capital for the summer Games.

The Asian tiger mosquito has made its home in much of northern Europe, including France, over the past two decades, spreading diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and zika.

Climate change is said to be behind its easy adaptation to colder climes, with authorities recently declaring Normandy in the northwest, the last remaining mosquito-free region in all of France, infested just like the rest of the country.

Authorities have tried in vain to get rid of the insects, including by fumigating parts of Paris, a technique regularly used in tropical cities.

However, with the start of the Paris Games only four months away, they are on the clock, with experts warning that a tiger mosquito bite could destroy an athlete’s chance of making it to the starting line.

“When you are sick with dengue, you won’t be jumping over any hurdles. The host cities and especially the Olympic Village must be kept mosquitofree,” said Didier Fontenille, an entomologist and expert on vector-borne diseases.

Health authorities have promised ‘increased surveillance’ over the mosquito threat, which has been notoriously difficult to eliminate. France reported 45 dengue cases last year, attributed to local virus transmission.

Tiger mosquitoes are ‘happiest’ in cities, where an abundant presence of stagnant water creates ideal conditions for laying their eggs.

Fontenille said dealing with stagnant water would ‘take care of 80 per cent of the problem’, if there was a ‘citizens’ mobilisation’ to clean up even smallest amounts of water left in flower bowls or saucers.