For five months, the department of Reunion has been affected by an epidemic of chikungunya, a viral disease transmitted to humans through bites. mosquitoesAedes (or tiger mosquito). In all, 192 cases were recorded on this island of nearly 900,000 inhabitants.
While the department knows an increase in the number of chikungunya casesPatrice Latron, prefect of La Réunion, announced this Monday, January 13, triggering level 3 of a crisis management system. “Due to the increase in the number of cases and the dispersion of outbreaks (…), Patrice Latron, prefect of Reunion Island, triggers level 3 of the Orsec system [organisation de la réponse de sécurité civile] “arboviruses”, which corresponds to the circulation of a low-intensity epidemic,” the prefecture said in a press release.
This decision was taken while Reunion Island is in the grip of an epidemic, certainly “low intensity” but still worrying. Since August 23, 192 cases of this disease transmitted by the tiger mosquito have been recorded. on the island in the Indian Ocean. Among the most affected municipalities :
In the press release, the prefecture also indicates that it has implemented various actions “since the appearance of the first cases”. “120 agents are mobilized and carry out daily control and prevention actions”, a workforce “regularly increased to deal with the appearance of new cases in neighborhoods which until now were not affected by the virus”. A spread of the disease that the public authorities want to avoid at all costs so as not to experience a reproduction of the chikungunya epidemic like in 2005 and 2006. At the time, a third of the island's population, i.e. around 260,000 peoplehad been contaminated by the virus, of which 225 had died.
Chikungunya, which means “who walks bent forward” in Makondé (a southern African language), is characterized by the sudden appearance of fever and severe joint painparticularly on the wrists, ankles, feet, knees and sometimes hips and shoulders… The virus can also cause nauseaof the headaches or even the fatigue. Although deaths are rare, symptoms can persist over several months or even years. Last November, the French company Valneva announced the marketing of its vaccine against this disease. For the moment, it is not reimbursed by Health Insurance and the High Authority for Health (HAS) has not yet issued an opinion on this subject.
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