According to World Health Organization spokesperson Gregory Hartl, France is currently the country with the most influenza A cases in Europe. The French Institute for French Sanitary Surveillance has in fact recently identified 164 cases of influenza per 100,000 inhabitants, which greatly exceeds the epidemic threshold of 84 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. In addition, the spread of the virus is also faster in France compared to other European countries, where influenza activity remains low overall.
Thus, in the week of September 7 to 13, 103,000 new cases presenting flu-like symptoms (cough, fever, body aches) were reported.
However, the French authorities do not intend to raise the alert level currently to level 5 for the moment.