every time As the Olympics approach, there seem to be other diseases chasing the event. In Rio 2016, it was Zika. In the postponed Tokyo Olympics, it was coronavirus. And this summer, in Paris 2024? Take your pick. Authorities have been trying to curb dengue fever and measles, which are on the rise in France and many other countries.
Millions of people from all over the world will flock to the host city during this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games. French authorities are preparing for more than 15 million visitors. That’s a huge crowd, even for a capital accustomed to mass tourism, which attracts some 40 million visitors a year. Some will bring contagious diseases with them. Others, without sufficient immunity, risk spreading something during their stay. With dengue and measles already a problem in Paris, authorities are planning how to limit the possibility of the Games becoming a superspreader event.
“It’s very difficult to limit the risk of transmission when it comes to dengue,” explains Anna-Bella Peyle, a medical entomologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. The virus is transmitted from person to person by mosquitoes, and in France the culprit is the invasive tiger mosquito. White-lined forest mosquito. As the weather gets warmer and Europe’s hot summers create conditions for the species to thrive, the insects are becoming a bigger problem. “The eggs are very hardy and the mosquito’s metabolism speeds up in the heat. They mature earlier and bite earlier.”
Tiger mosquitoes are not new to France. They first appeared in the south in 2004, and in Paris in 2015. Originally from Asia, they lay their eggs in pockets of still water, which can hatch weeks after the water has evaporated. This explains why they first arrived in Genoa, Italy, before spreading across Europe and arriving in France.
But dengue is a more recent problem. As the virus rages across the world’s tropics (there have been an estimated 10 million cases worldwide this year, with South America and Southeast Asia being hard hit), cases have surged in France. Between January 1 and April 30, 2024, health authorities recorded: 2,166 casesThat’s down from an average of 128 cases over the same period over the past five years. Most of the cases this year have been imported from overseas, where the epidemic is ongoing: Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, although the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded some cases of transmission within Europe, including France, this year.
This raises the risk of holding an event that brings together people from all over the world at a time when cases are rising globally. This could lead to an increase in imported cases in Paris, which could lead to an abundance of tiger mosquitoes, potentially spreading the virus domestically.
In most cases, the infection Asymptomatic or mild fever symptomsHowever, in some cases, the disease can become more severe and fatal. There is no specific treatment for the virus, and few Europeans have immunity from previous exposure. A vaccine has only become available in the past few years, and is only available in a few countries with high transmission rates.
