Paris: France is scrambling to ensure virus-carrying tiger mosquitoes, a growing threat in Europe, do not spoil the Paris Olympics for athletes and fans, with millions of visitors expected to flock to the French capital for the summer games.
The Asian tiger mosquito has established itself in much of northern Europe, including France, over the past two decades, spreading diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika.
Its easy adaptation to colder climates is said to be due to climate change, with authorities recently declaring Normandy in the northwest, the last remaining mosquito-free area in all of France, to be infested like the rest of the country.
Authorities tried in vain to get rid of the insects, including by fumigating parts of Paris, a technique commonly used in tropical cities.
But with the Paris Games just four months away, they are the order of the day, with experts warning that a tiger mosquito bite could ruin an athlete’s chance of making it to the starting line.
“When you get dengue, you don’t jump any hurdles,” said Didier Fontenille, an entomologist and expert on vector-borne diseases.
“Host cities and especially the Olympic Village must be mosquito-free,” he said.
Health authorities have promised “increased surveillance” of the mosquito menace, which has been notoriously difficult to eradicate.
France reported 45 cases of dengue fever last year, which is caused by local transmission of the virus.
Tiger mosquitoes are happiest in cities where the abundance of stagnant water creates ideal conditions for egg laying.
Fontenille said the solution to stagnant water would “solve 80 percent of the problem” if there was a “mobilization of citizens” to clean even the smallest amount of water left in flower bowls or saucers.
In the rest, he said, repellents, mosquito nets and organic insecticides used for mosquito larvae could be effective.
Mosquito traps, which use simulated human body odors to attract and then kill mosquitoes, also show promise.
A variation is to trick the insects into laying eggs in a trap where they are destroyed.
Specialist firm Biogents said it had won a public tender to protect the port of Marseille, the site of sailing events, with plans to install 15 traps.
Co-manager Hugo Plan said they will be set up next month and spread over one hectare “in greenery and shady, wet areas”.
During the games, staff will periodically check the metal boxes, which are 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) high, he said.
Fighting tiger mosquitoes is a booming business, with Qista, another French specialist firm, saying it has built 13,000 insect control devices in 26 countries over the past decade.
Meanwhile, researchers are working to modify and sterilize DNA to reduce mosquito populations.
