France May Soon See Mosquito-Borne Disease Outbreaks

There are thousands of mosquito species in the world, and not all of them can spread disease, but the Asian tiger mosquito can. As you can guess, the Asian tiger mosquito is native to Asia, and it is an unusually aggressive mosquito species. According to public health officials in France, these mosquitoes have just taken over half of the country. The mosquito has established itself in the southern and central region of the country. The mosquito has been spotted numerous times in the southern Paris suburbs and in some pockets in the north.

According to France’s Public Health Authority, forty two out of the ninety six French Departments have become affected. Public health officials are urging citizens to be vigilant in between the months of May and November, and emptying standing water from objects on people’s property is being highly recommended.

On the island known as Réunion in the French Indian Ocean, tiger mosquitoes bred an epidemic of dengue fever. Now health officials are worried that that French citizens vacationing on the island will bring the disease back to mainland France, where tiger mosquitoes could spread the disease from person to person. Theoretically a local cycle of transmission could occur in France under these conditions. Zika and dengue fever are often mistaken for one another due to their similar symptomatology. The disease is considered relatively mild in most cases and many adults to not present symptoms of any sort. During the years of 2014 and 2015 dengue fever was reported in eighteen French citizens living in the south of France. During this same amount of time seventeen people living on the French Riviera tested positive for Chikungunya. Symptoms of dengue fever and the Chikungunya virus are strikingly similar such as severe joint pain, fever, headaches, teary eyes and rash.

Do you think that Asian tiger mosquitoes will move into northern France?