Faced with the increase in cases of chikungunya on the island of Reunion, its prefect has triggered the level 3 crisis management system. The objective is to prevent the occurrence of an epidemic of the same magnitude as that at the beginning of the millennium, which affected a third of the island.
Faced with an increase in the number of cases of chikungunya in Reunion, the Prefect announced, on January 13, the triggering of level 3 of a crisis management system linked to arboviruses, which corresponds to an “low-intensity epidemic”. Indeed, since August 23, 2024, 192 cases of the disease have been recorded on this island which has 900,000 inhabitants. The majority of these cases come from the south and west of the island. The prefecture indicated that 120 agents had been mobilized and carried out daily control and prevention actions, in order to avoid the occurrence of an epidemic of the magnitude of that of 2005 and 2006. 20 years ago, 260 000 people, or a third of the island population, were infected and 225 lives were lost.
The chikungunya virus belongs to the arbovirus family, which includes the viruses responsible for dengue and Zika. Transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito of the genus Aedesit causes joint damage to the wrists, fingers, ankles, feet, knees and, more rarely, the hips or shoulders. Added to this are headaches, accompanied by fever, significant muscle pain, a rash on the trunk and limbs, conjunctivitis or even inflammation of one or more cervical lymph nodes. Bleeding from the gums or nose has also been described. Although very disabling, the disease is rarely fatal. Remission of clinical symptoms occurs after a few days. However, joint signs can last from a few weeks to several years. Furthermore, exceptionally and mainly in elderly or immunocompromised people or in infected newborns in utero at the same time as the mother, a serious neurological form can develop.
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