A first case of local contamination of chikungunya and a second indigenous case of infection with West Nile virus have been identified in recent days in the south of France, Public Health France (SPF) reported on Wednesday July 29.
“This is the first detection of the circulation of the chikungunya virus in mainland France, in 2026,” indicates the national health agency in its weekly report, specifying that it was identified in Tarn (Occitanie).
Until then, the other cases recorded were “imported” cases, involving people who had traveled to regions of the world where these viruses circulate endemically.
A second indigenous case of West Nile virus infection was detected in Bouches-du-Rhône (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur), after a first case in mid-July, in the Pyrénées-Orientales (Occitanie).
West Nile Virus (or West Nile Virus) is an arbovirus mainly transmitted by mosquitoes, which can cause neurological damage in humans. It is a bird virus, which can also infect humans and horses. In France, it is regularly found in the Mediterranean basin.
Contamination via mosquitoes
These cases of local contamination are in addition to two other cases of dengue fever, “unrelated to each other”, recorded last week in Tarn and Hérault (Occitanie).
In detail, 87 imported cases of chikungunya, 261 of dengue and nine of Zika, three diseases transmitted by the tiger mosquito, were identified by the health agency between May 1 and July 26.
Last year, more than 800 indigenous cases of chikungunya and 29 indigenous cases of dengue were recorded in mainland France, as well as 62 indigenous cases of “West Nile” fever, in 17 metropolitan departments, with cases in Ile-de-France or Normandy for the first time.
