Tiger mosquito alert in Nîmes. The Gard prefecture has just announced that three new cases of dengue fever, a disease transmitted exclusively by the bite of the tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus had been diagnosed in the southeast of the city. These figures are in addition to two cases already identified in August in the same district.
Dengue is a disease of tropical origin that manifests itself by high fever, headaches, nausea, joint and muscle pain and a rash within two to seven days of infection. The five patients listed in Nîmes this summer are currently “healed and healthy” according to the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of Languedoc-Roussillon. These cases are considered autochthonous because the infected people have “contracted the disease on national territory without having, in the previous 15 days, traveled to an area where the virus is circulating“details the ARS of Languedoc-Roussillon in a press release.
The Ministry of Health has thus classified the department at level 3 of the anti-dissemination plan chikungunya-dengue fever, two diseases transmitted by this mosquito. One of the measures of this plan consists of disinsectization operations. Local authorities have also asked residents not to leave standing water in their homes, breeding grounds for mosquitoes, to use mosquito repellent and to wear long clothes to limit the risk of bites. The proliferation of tiger mosquitoes in the south of France represents a real public health problem, especially since the numerous mosquito control campaigns have favored the resistance of mosquitoes to insecticides.
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