Holidaymakers warned as plague of tiger mosquitoes which carry ZIKA virus hits France

A PLAGUE of tiger mosquitoes that can carry the Zika virus is spreading across half of France at a terrifying rate, forcing health authorities to urge holidaymakers to carry repellant this summer. The number of tiger mosquitoes in France has doubled in just two years and the pest can carry several diseases, including dengue fever and the chikungunya virus. And as the weather starts to get warmer, public health authorities revealed that 42 of France’s 96 departments are affected by tiger mosquitoes, also known as aedes albopictus.
The pest has been identified as the source of a dengue fever epidemic currently affecting the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion. Residents and travellers are now being urged to be vigilant during its “active period” from May 1 until November 30 and to “drain away stagnant water, where mosquitoes can reproduce, around homes”.
The advice is to replace water with sand, or to change vases several times a week, to prevent female mosquitoes from laying eggs in the water. Areas of France under red alert include the suburbs of Paris, as well as pockets of the north, including Aisle, which is north of Paris, and Angers, to the was of Nantes.
Those in the south of the country have also been urged to be vigilant, including as far north as the city of Tours. Authorities also fear infected holidaymakers returning from their travels abroad will allow diseases to spread onto French mainland by tiger mosquitoes.
In a statement, the authority said: “There is a real risk of creating a local cycle of transmission."
The public health authority also pointed out 18 cases of locally-transmitted dengue fever which were recorded in southern France in 2014 and 2014, as well as 17 cases of Chikungunya on the Riviera last year.
Symptoms of dengue fever include headaches, fever, severe joint pain, a rash and weeping eyes. They can take up to two weeks to show up.