An indigenous case of chikungunya, the first of the year in France, has been recorded in the Ile-de-France region, according to the latest data from enhanced surveillance of this disease as well as dengue fever and Zika, all transmitted by tiger mosquitoes.
An "autochthonous case" means that the person has not recently traveled to areas of the world where this virus, transmitted from person to person by tiger mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus), is widely circulating.
The person was probably infected on site after being bitten by one of these mosquitoes, whose presence has been increasing for almost 20 years in mainland France, in a context facilitated by global warming.
Since the start of reinforced surveillance of diseases linked to the period of activity of tiger mosquitoes in early May, nine imported cases of chikungunya have also been recorded in mainland France, Public Health France (SpF) said on Wednesday.
An indigenous case of dengue fever, the first of the year, was also reported at the beginning of July in Hérault.
A month before the Paris Olympic Games, the health agency mentioned arboviruses (chikungunya, dengue, Zika) among its many surveillance targets around the sporting event.
When an indigenous case of arbovirosis is identified, vector control measures are reinforced with mosquito control treatments in a wider perimeter and an active search for cases around the outbreaks, according to SpF.
At the end of June, the European Commission authorised the first vaccine against chikungunya, called Ixchiq and developed by the European laboratory Valneva Austria.
Cases of dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases are on the rise in Europe, with "climate change creating more favourable conditions for the spread of invasive mosquitoes to previously unaffected areas," the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the EU's health agency, warned on June 11.
There is currently no treatment for chikungunya, which means "curved man" disease in Kimakonde, a language spoken in Tanzania and Mozambique, a phrase evocative of the very strong joint pain felt.
This infection can cause patients to have a high fever and often disabling joint damage.
English 
French