2023-09-04 22:34:04
Dengue fever outbreak sparks mass closures and fumigation in Paris
09/04/2023, 07:04 p.m – By Ulrike Hagen
Paris is taking drastic measures to combat the spread of tiger mosquitoes: Entire streets have been closed and the population asked to stay in their homes.
Paris – It sounds like a respectable horror apocalypse, but it could soon become the new normal in Germany too: In Paris on Thursday (August 31), a larger area of the French capital was cleared and cordoned off to systematically spray the streets with toxic insecticides -Fumigation to smoke out. The health authorities are trying to stop the spread of the dangerous tiger mosquito, which is being accelerated by climate change and is also spreading rapidly in Bavaria.
Entire streets in south-east Paris were closed in the early hours of the morning and people were asked to stay indoors as pest control companies sprayed insecticides on trees, lawns and other mosquito breeding areas, the French daily said The world reported. The Paris health authorities are trying to curb the rapid advance of the tiger mosquito, which experts say is also becoming a threat to Germany.
The regional health agency for the capital, ARS Ile-de-France, said the area to be fumigated is 150 meters around the home of a person in the capital’s 13th arrondissement who contracted dengue fever while traveling “These measures are being taken to reduce the risk of transmission of dengue fever after a case has been detected,” it said. The tiger mosquito, also known as Aedes albopictus, is considered a carrier of exotic diseases that can be life-threatening.
A second fumigation operation took place Thursday night in the Colombes suburb, northeast of central Paris, after a second person contracted dengue fever after returning from a trip abroad. City authorities are now trying to prevent a chain of transmission from emerging in the Paris region, which is estimated to be home to 12 million people.
These symptoms can occur when the tiger mosquito is infected with a tropical disease:
– Dengue fever: Fever, rash and headache, muscle, limb, bone or joint pain. If severe, it can also be fatal
– Chikungunya fever: high fever, severe joint and muscle pain, headache. Babies, the elderly or people with chronic diseases can have a severe course
– West Nile fever: Fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes. In rare cases, meningitis or paralysis may occur
– Zika-Virus: The disease is often asymptomatic. In a few cases, symptoms such as fever, vomiting, headache, joint and muscle pain, skin rash or conjunctivitis occur. Infection during pregnancy is particularly dangerous and can lead to skull deformities in newborns
Source: Federal Ministry of Health, Social Affairs, Care and Consumer Protection
“It was the first time in Paris, but not the first time in France,” deputy mayor of Paris Anne Souyris, who is responsible for health policy, told BFM television. “The south of France has been affected by tiger mosquitoes for a number of years.”
First spotted in France in 2004, it is now present in 71 of the 96 mainland departments, including areas near the northern Channel coast, according to the Health Ministry. The population is asked to report sightings, and the information is collected on a special website.
“We believe that the risk is increasing,” Marie-Claire Paty, head of the surveillance department for vector-borne diseases – that is, those transmitted directly from animals – told Santé Publique, the national health agency AFP.
Health experts say Aedes is also thriving on the continent because of climate change, which scientists rank as the world’s “biggest health threat,” as warmer weather shortens the eggs’ incubation period and winters are no longer cold enough to keep them to kill.
The fact is: the exotic mosquitoes no longer only bite in the summer – in the meantime, the tiger mosquito is multiplying in parts of Europe even in the winter. A wintering population during the cold season has also been observed in Germany. In addition to dengue fever, the Asian tiger mosquito, which Bill Gates described as “the deadliest animal in the world” in 2014, can potentially transmit more than 20 viruses all year round – including the West Nile, dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses.]
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