After the Occitania region last week, it is now up to the Bas-Rhin to issue the alert to the Zika. In its weekly epidemiological update, the Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS) reveals that since May 2016, 11 cases of Zika have been imported into this department in eastern France.
Enhanced surveillance device when the tiger mosquito is active
The Bas-Rhin department has increased surveillance at chikungunya, to the dengue feverand Zika. In question: the local establishment of the mosquito vector of these three infectious diseases, the tiger mosquito (Where Aedes albopictus). The Bas-Rhin therefore integrates the reinforced surveillance system for these diseases, set up during the period of activity of the tiger mosquito, namely from May 1 to November 30 each year.
Only imported Zika cases
The 11 cases of Zika identified in the Bas-Rhin this year are only imported cases: these people were contaminated during a travel to geographic areas affected by Zika, such as the West Indies or South America, and returned to the Bas-Rhin department carrying the virus. The InVS fears that these people will be bitten by a tiger mosquito present in the Bas-Rhin, then infecting the mosquito vector of Zika, which could in turn infect another person.
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