Tiger mosquitoes in Brest and Saint-Brieuc: is Brittany threatened by dengue fever? – France

Metropolitan France is experiencing, this 12 months, an unprecedented unfold of dengue fever, a viral illness transmitted by the tiger mosquito: as of October 4, 63 autochthonous instances (which don’t come from contamination exterior the territory) and 9 outbreaks of transmission have been recorded in Occitania, Paca area and Corsica. A state of affairs linked partially to local weather change: the tiger mosquito, which likes humidity, warmth and town, is turning into increasingly more comfy within the nation. Almost two thirds of the departments of Metropolitan France have been colonized in lower than 20 years, from south to north.

Brittany escapes for the second to an “lively” institution.
However, the animal was noticed in 4 Breton municipalities in 2022, because of the surveillance put in place, signifies to the Telegram the Regional Well being Company (ARS)?. These are Brest, Saint-Brieuc, La Gacilly (56) and Domagné (35). “Consciousness-raising actions in these municipalities will likely be carried out within the spring of 2023”, specifies the ARS. In 2021, this animal vector of dengue, zika and chikungunya had been flushed out in Rennes, Camors (35), Plomelin (29), Auray (56) and already in Domagné (35). The actions carried out (together with 164 nesting traps put in within the area, in 28 municipalities and 13 websites thought-about to be in danger) would have made it doable to eradicate it within the first 4 municipalities talked about.

5 imported instances, with out severe type

On the identical time, 5 instances of dengue fever have been counted within the area over the interval from Might 1 to September 30, 2022, confirms Public Well being France. None are indigenous.
“All are imported instances, arrived by probability in Brittany: these are individuals who go on trip, in areas the place the illness is circulating, and who then return to the area”, reassures Bertrand Gagnière, epidemiologist physician. inside the Breton unit of Public Well being France.
The 5 contaminated Bretons, who didn’t have severe kinds, have been coming back from stays in Asia, the Caribbean and a rustic in southern Europe. They reside in Finistère, Côtes-d’Armor and Morbihan. Three imported instances of dengue had been detected in 2021, none in 2020.

Within the absence of lively circulation of the tiger mosquito in Brittany, Public Well being France claims to proceed its surveillance however in “non-alert” mode. “However we might must tighten the bolts relying on the evaluation of the state of affairs”, assures Bertrand Gagnière.

Brittany “surrounded”

Epidemic outbreaks, actually on a smaller scale than these skilled within the abroad departments, may quickly happen within the South of France, acknowledge the well being authorities. And in Brittany, in the long run? “I do not know in what future, however we won’t swear that there’ll by no means be any within the area. We’re surrounded by departments the place the tiger mosquito is current. We are able to additionally see that regardless of the efforts made within the South of France and which have labored effectively for a number of years, the climate development is extraordinarily favorable to the survival of larvae and mosquitoes”, observes Bertrand Gagnière.

Dengue fever, which generates excessive fevers, can, in uncommon instances, trigger extreme hemorrhagic kinds. Deaths stay rare: roughly 0.01% of all instances. The one present vaccine, produced by the French laboratory Sanofi, will not be beneficial for individuals who have by no means contracted dengue fever.