France has reportedly registered a record number of imported cases of dengue – a break-bone fever which is a viral infection that spreads from mosquitoes to people.

This is happening just three months to the commencement of the Paris 2024.  The alarm has been raised by the French health authorities. 

According to the reports, there have been 1,700 cases across France since January.  

The Director General of Health, Gregory Emery, was quick to issue the stark warning at a press conference. 

He said: “Since January 1, 2024, 1,679 cases of dengue have been imported into metropolitan France, against 131 during the same period in 2023.”

These cases correspond to people who travelled to regions of the world, such as the French Antilles, where the virus is transmitted by mosquitoes of the Aedes albopictus species.

“It is a reflection of what is happening in the Antilles and, more broadly, in Latin America and the Caribbean, where dengue has been circulating since the beginning of the year at unprecedented levels,” said the head of Sante Publique France, Caroline Semaille. 

Even before the Olympic Games, France broke the record for imported dengue cases in the metropolitan area (2,019) at the mercy of a greater influx of people in the capital.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the majority of these cases originate from Guadeloupe and Martinique, where an ongoing “epidemic” is observed. Additionally, French Guiana has reported 7,000 confirmed dengue cases since the start of 2024.

Health authorities have called on people to “remain vigilant and adopt good gestures to limit the proliferation of the tiger mosquito”, such as, for example, eliminating stagnant water and avoiding being bitten. With 3.5 million cases so far this year, Latin America and the Caribbean will probably experience their “worst dengue season”, caused by climate change, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) warned at the end of March.

Experts blame climate change for the mosquitoes’ ability to adapt easily to colder climates, and authorities recently declared Normandy in the northwest, the last remaining mosquito-free region in France, as infested as the rest of the country.

Dengue, also known as break-bone fever, is a viral infection that spreads from mosquitoes to people. It is more common in tropical and subtropical climates. Most people who get dengue will not have symptoms. However, for those who do, the most common symptoms are high fever, headache, body aches, nausea, and rash.

Three-times Olympic gold medallist Gabby Douglas returned to competition for the first time in eight years at the American Classic and secured qualification for the U.S. Championships despite a slightly rusty performance.

The 2012 Olympics all-around individual and team champion, who had not competed since the 2016 Rio Games after taking time away to focus on her mental health, is looking to mount a comeback ahead of this year’s Paris Olympics.

She placed 10th in the all-around in Katy, Texas, on Saturday, recording a score of 50.65 after errors on the floor and bars.

However, her promising showing in the vault and the balance beam proved enough to qualify for next month’s U.S. Championships in those events.

The 28-year-old returned to training last year hoping to make the squad for Paris, but was forced to delay her return to competition earlier this year due to a bout of COVID-19.

The American Classic was won by Tokyo Olympics floor champion Jade Carey.

-Reuters

The Paris 2024 Olympic flame sailed for France on Saturday on board a three-masted ship to mark the final sprint of preparations ahead of the Olympic Games opening ceremony on July 26.

The “Belem” left the port of Piraeus in the morning for an 11-day voyage and will arrive in the southern city of Marseille, founded by the Greek settlers of Phocaea around 600 BC, on May 8.

Paris Games organisers had received the flame on Friday in a ceremony at Athens’ Panathenaic stadium, site of the first modern Olympics in 1896, following last week’s lighting in ancient Olympia that kicked off an 11-day Greek relay leg.

After a brief ceremony in Piraeus on Saturday the vessel set sail for France.

An estimated 150,000 spectators are expected to attend the ceremony at the Old Port of Marseille, which will host the Olympic sailing competitions and be the start of a 68-day French torch relay across the country.

The last torch bearer in Marseille will climb on the roof of the Velodrome stadium on May 9 and the relay will end in Paris on July 26 with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron during the Games’ opening ceremony along the Seine river.

Organisers hope the opening ceremony, in which 160 boats carrying athletes from around the world will travel a six kilometre route towards the Eiffel Tower, will deliver a jaw-dropping spectacle.

Some 300,000 spectators will watch from the banks as a global audience tunes in on TV, and with security forces in the country on high alert with the Games taking place against a backdrop of wars in Ukraine and Gaza

The French government has asked around 45 foreign countries to contribute several thousand extra military, police and civilian personnel to help safeguard the Paris Olympics.

-Reuters