According to the HCSP, the risk of transmission by the Aedes mosquito of the Zika virus is considered “high” in the French departments of America and “real” in metropolitan France.
A new arbovirus is starting to make people talk about it. This is the Zika virus, which is transmitted almost exclusively by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes which are also vectors of dengue and chikungunya. And bad news, this disease which triggers the same symptoms (fever, joint pain, headaches, skin signs) as its cousins now constitutes an additional threat for France, including in metropolitan France.
A risk of an epidemic throughout France
Indeed, given the presence of these insects on our territory, the High Council of Public Health (HCSP) wished to assess the risk of introduction of the Zika disease and the possible epidemic impact in the French departments of America (DFA), in Reunion, in Mayotte as well as in the metropolitan departments where Aedes albopictus is implanted.
And in theopinion and report that it publishes this Thursday, the HCSP is hardly reassuring. The expert body writes: “In view of the presence of vectors and the flow of travelers, the risk of transmission of the Zika virus is” high “in the DFAs where the vector Ae. aegypti is present. It concerns the entire population residing or staying there ”.
The HCSP also considers that this risk is “” real “in Reunion (presence ofAe. albopictus) and in Mayotte (presence ofAe. albopictus and D’Ae. aegypti). Here again, it concerns the entire population residing or staying there ”.
Finally, the danger is also perceived as “” real “in the metropolitan departments where Ae. albopictus is established, during its period of activity from May to November. “
No vaccine available at the moment
So, to avoid these scenarios, the High Council details in its report a three-point strategy: epidemiological surveillance of Zika disease, a diagnostic strategy, and finally, a patient care strategy.
On this last point, it should be noted that at present, this task is not an easy thing, because it is very complicated to diagnose this virus biologically. Perhaps more worrying, there is, for the moment, only symptomatic therapy for this disease, and there is no vaccine available.
Brazil in an epidemic situation
As a reminder, the Zika virus, an arbovirus from the same family as dengue and chikungunya, originates from Africa. Initially isolated from humans, the virus revealed its epidemic capacity in 2007, with 5,000 cases in Micronesia, in the Pacific, and 55,000 patients at the end of 2013 in Polynesia, recalls theResearch Institute for Development (IRD). Finally, an epidemic identified in May 2015 is currently raging in Brazil.
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