An Aveyronnaise who returned from a trip to the West Indies was infected with the Chikungunya virus. This is the first case recorded in this department of France.
While an epidemic of chikungunya has raged in the West Indies since December 2013, a woman from the Aveyron region presented symptoms of the virus on her return from a trip to Saint-Barthélémy last June. She consulted a doctor who confirmed her contamination with the virus.
This is the first case identified in this department of France, but the state services have specified that it is an imported case, the epidemic can therefore be avoided. Transmitted by the bite of the tiger mosquito, the chikungunya virus causes headaches, body aches and joint pain. The young Aveyron woman, in her thirties, began to experience these symptoms about six days after returning from the West Indies. Her doctor put her on painkillers so that she can continue to work.
70 cases identified in the PACA region
In the space of eight months, the Chikungunya virus has already affected 115,000 people in the West Indies, including 39 deaths. If no indigenous case has been identified in metropolitan France, the risk of an epidemic of the Chikungunya virus remains. The Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin (BEH) already warned at the end of July about the risk of an epidemic in metropolitan France. “All the conditions are met in 18 departments in the south of metropolitan France for transmission of the Chikungunya virus”. The Institut de Veille Sanitaire (InVS) reported 624 suspected cases between May 1 and August 1. The most affected area is the Côte d’Azur with 70 cases (see map).
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