Health alert triggered after French man contracts dengue fever in Europe

Barcelona (ACN).- A health alert has been triggered after a tiger mosquito transferred dengue fever from South-East Asia to a French man who had never travelled to the zone. Lluís Valerio of the International Health Unit (USI) at the Catalan Institute of Health stated that it is necessary to “trigger alarms but not yet activate them”. The French man who has contracted dengue fever was bit by the mosquito in the city of Nice on the French south-eastern coast. According to Valerio, this demonstrates the mosquito’s capacity to transmit the disease and that the priority now should be preventing the insect’s further reproduction. This Monday the French Ministry of Health announced that a tiger mosquito transmitted the disease to a local in the city of Nice after having previously bit someone with dengue fever. Despite the incident, Valerio advised that there is no immediate public health risk in effect.

Valerio added that the Catalan health system is “completely prepared” to attend to cases of dengue fever or any other tropical diseases. Despite the insect being autochthonous, Valeiro says that this case shows that the mosquito has the capacity to transmit diseases from tropical countries. He also assured that the incident in Nice is “completely isolated” and is not an epidemic.

Valerio explained that a tiger mosquito bit the French man after having previously bitten someone with dengue fever, from a virus originally from South-East Asia.  “This may be the first time this has happened”, he stated.

Preventing the tiger mosquito’s reproduction

Valerio warned that preventing the tiger mosquito’s reproduction in Catalonia is an “above all” priority because “the Catalan Government cannot go into everyone’s gardens”. He advises citizens to not leave their swimming pools half-full and be on the look out in flowerpots or other spaces where water collects.