Mainland France has seen an explosion of chikungunya outbreaks this summer and local officials are hunting down the tiger mosquitoes responsible for spreading the virus. Meanwhile, the United States has suspended the licence for a French-made vaccine against the virus following reports of serious side effects.<\/p>\n
Mainland France has seen a record number of cases of chikungunya this summer because of the spread of the tiger mosquito, which carries the virus, and is now present nearly everywhere<\/a> in the country.<\/p>\n Health authorities have recently focused on Vitrolles, a suburb of Aix-en-Provence in southern France, where authorities recorded 33 cases of the virus transmitted locally \u2013 the largest outbreak ever observed in mainland France.<\/p>\n Spreading beyond the tropics<\/p>\n A total of 27 outbreaks involving 154 cases have been recorded in mainland France this year, according to the national health agency SPF<\/a>.<\/p>\n France\u2019s Reunion Island has been facing a deadly outbreak of the tropical disease since 2024, with one third of the population estimated to have been infected, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO<\/a>).<\/p>\n The virus has been spreading<\/a> in mainland France as temperatures in northern Europe have warmed, and winters are no longer cold enough to kill off the tiger mosquitoes.<\/p>\n The mosquito, which also carries dengue fever, which is also on the rise<\/a>, is now present in over 80 of France\u2019s 101 departments, and mosquito control measures are being stepped up in areas with infections.<\/p>\n