More than 15 million visitors are expected between July 26 and August 11 in France during the 2024 Olympic Games. But in addition to their good humor, supporters from all over the world could bring back new viruses and bacteria, likely to cause epidemics in the territory. To anticipate risks, the biological emergency response unit (Cibu) of the Pasteur Institute, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, is preparing behind the scenes.
This cell is not new. It was created after the attacks of September 11, 2001 and alerts about envelopes contaminated with anthrax. It is made up of three centers, the Bacterial Identification Center (PIB), the Viral Identification Center (PIV) and the Pathogen Genotyping Center (PGP), responsible for identifying a broad spectrum of pathogens 24 hours a day. and 7 days a week.
Variants or bacteria brought by bioterrorism
The main fears focus on bacteria and viruses. “It could be avian flu, it could be another form of flu, other variants, but also viruses or bacteria brought by bioterrorism like the plague or anthrax…”, summarizes Anne Le Flèche-Matéos, the responsible for the identification of bacteria at -.
In practice, a hospital which detects a suspicious case during the Olympic Games will be able to report it to the General Directorate of Health which will activate the Cibu if necessary. An on-call team will be responsible for receiving and analyzing the biological sample sent to a dedicated mini-laboratory, specially designed to handle pathogens that are fatal to humans.
The head of Cibu explains to France 3 Paris Île-de-France that he is not worried. “We have been preparing for a year and a half for these Olympic Games to deal with any epidemic, knowing that they could be known or unknown epidemics or pathogens.”
