A campaign to monitor and trap tiger mosquitos in Paris is in full swing weeks ahead of the Olympics. Authorities are worried that travellers will exacerbate a surge in diseases such as dengue fever.
On the outskirts of the Stade de France, in the north of Paris where a number of Olympic events will be held, Kevin Meignan checks a nesting trap installed a few weeks ago in a grass-lined pathway.
Meignan works for the Regional Mosquito Control Agency (ARD), part of the regional ARS health service.
The bucket he's inspecting contains water and a square of polystyrene to support mosquito eggs. It's covered with a metal grid to prevent the polystyrene escaping from the trap.
"The aim is to monitor the presence of the tiger mosquito," Meignan told the French news agency AFP, adding the tiger mosquito population had "exploded" in the Paris region in recent years.
May to November marks the main breeding period for the disease-carrying Aedes albopictus mosquito.
"During this period, we will collect the polystyrene contained in the trap every month and study it in the laboratory to find out whether there are any tiger mosquito eggs and, if so, how many," Meignan says.
When he raises the trap, Meignan pours a biological product into the water "to avoid any potential development of larvae".
Record cases
The tiger mosquito arrived in France in 2004 and has gradually settled over a large part of the country. On 1 January, they were present in 78 of France's 96 departements.
The mosquitos are potential vectors of viruses such as dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika and can be found throughout the Paris region.
In mid-April, authorities warned of an unprecedented number of imported cases of dengue – almost 1,700 – recorded in mainland France since the beginning of 2024.
The cases involve people who have travelled to regions of the world where the virus is endemically circulating: the French West Indies and, more widely this year, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Imported cases risk the establishment of indigenous transmission chains in France. As such, the director general of health, Grégory Emery, is calling for vigilance.
An indigenous case involves a person who is bitten by a mosquito that is carrying a disease after coming in contact with an infected traveller.
Prevention messages will be circulated throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games as travellers visit France.
Awareness-raising information for travellers departing from or arriving in endemic areas will be distributed in airports.
Hundreds of traps
More than 500 egg-laying traps will be set up throughout the Paris region.
"This year we have given priority to places where large numbers of people gather," said Cécile Somarriba, director of health monitoring and safety at the ARS.
Traps will be deployed around the Stade de France, the Olympic Village and certain fan zones.
The ARS has also urged people to remove stagnant water, a potential breeding ground, in and around their homes.
(with AFP)
