The Sheep Syndicate of Ariège has decided to file an appeal before the Paris court to contest the import of two Slovenian bears into the region. He fears in particular that these two animals will spread tick-borne encephalitis, a rare and potentially fatal disease for humans.
Concern in Ariège. In an official press release sent Thursday, October 11, the Sheep Syndicate of the department (SOA) announced that it was going to file an appeal before the Paris court to contest the ministerial decree authorizing the reintroduction of two Slovenian bears in Béarn on October 5. , reports the regional daily The Dispatch. Because he fears, in addition to the endangerment of herds, the importation of a rare and potentially fatal disease for humans: tick-borne encephalitis.
And for good reason: the health section of the ministerial decree of August 29 published in the Official Bulletin of the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition “reports the endemic presence in Slovenia of TBE, or tick-borne encephalitis, vector-borne disease transmitted by ticks to all wildlife and humans. This incurable disease, potentially fatal for humans, is diagnosed in hundreds of cases each year in Slovenia. The health study on TBE within the framework of the reintroduction process concludes that there is a moderate risk, therefore not zero, of importing this disease into the natural environment of the Pyrenees, which is free from it”, explains the SOA, which is currently making contact with other federations to suggest that they join forces. to appeal.
“We have decided to file a request with the Paris court for annulment with an interim suspension which will make the application faster if we ever win our case. If we succeed, the government will have the obligation to recover its bears via the detection beacons they have around their necks”, specifies Franck Watts, treasurer of the SOA, at Pourquoi Docteur. “This disease is not curable, it is asymptomatic in bears who can transmit it to ticks and thus pass the virus on to wildlife and the local population”, he is alarmed. And to rebel: “The ONCFS (Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage) is worried about the risks for its own agents: they warn to deworm captured bears and to vaccinate beforehand its agents who deal animals but it would seem that the risk in the face of the local population weighs very little. Risk as “moderate to low” so in conclusion “negligible risk”, so we don’t talk about it. Let’s hope that our referee puts the pressure “.
Anger against the state and “ecologists”
The two bears, Claverina (“the heiress, the one who holds the keys” in Béarnais) and Sortia (“little sister” in Béarnais), were released in the Pyrenees on October 5, François de Rugy, Minister of the Ecological Transition, with great enthusiasm on Twitter. The first, 7 years old, weighs 140 kg while the second, 6 years old, weighs 150 kg. The two are pregnant and will give birth to cubs in 2019, another source of anger and concern for many locals.
This is not the first time that local residents have expressed alarm at the risk oftick-borne encephalitis due to the importation of bears from Slovenia to the Pyrenees. On his site, Pyrenees-Pyrénéeus, a platform dedicated to the region accuses “the French State of having voluntarily imported this disease hitherto unknown in the Pyrenees and in Spain”. “While the Pyrenees were, before the importation of bears from Slovenia, a preserved and healthy region, the same for Spain, the madness of men who call themselves “ecologists” and protectors of the environment leads us to take precautions health hitherto unknown”, is it also written.
Because as a general rule, tick-borne encephalitis is much more common in the East than in the West. In France, Alsace is the most affected, followed by Lorraine. A few cases have however been observed in the past in other regions, in particular in the South-West (Bordeaux), in Haute-Savoie (Faverges, Grenoble) and in Aquitaine. In addition to France, the disease is rife in the Vladivostok region of Russia, in northeastern China, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Greece, southern Crimea and northern Japan. Around 158,000 cases were recorded between 1990 and 2007, two thirds of them in Russia.
A mortality rate that varies from 0.5% to 35%
As its name suggests, tick-borne encephalitis is transmitted by the bite of a tick infected with an arbovirus, especially in spring and fall. After an incubation of one to two weeks, the disease begins suddenly like the flu. The patient will suffer from fever, headache and chills. Then appear in some people (in 20 to 30% of cases), symptoms due to neurological problems: prostration or on the contrary strong agitation, drowsiness, delirium, tone and muscle disorders and losses. of balance.
There is no specific antiviral drug against this disease. Treatment, which may be supplemented with corticosteroids, is aimed solely at relieving symptoms. Two weeks of bed rest may also be advised.
Depending on the virus subtype, its mortality rate varies from 0.5% to 35% and up to a third of patients may have more or less significant long-term neurological sequelae such as headaches, hearing disorders and swallowing or memory problems.
This is why health authorities strongly recommend that people living in endemic regions take preventive measures. In addition to vaccination, it is a question of protecting oneself by wearing long and protective clothing during a walk in the forest, the use of skin repellents and the rapid but careful extraction of ticks after bites. In general, if you have spent time in the forest or camping, remember to carefully inspect your skin or that of your children, especially at the level of the armpits, the genitals, the hollow of the knees as well as the head and neck.
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