Warning as surge in organ-destroying virus hits popular summer hotspot
European health officials have issued an alert about eight local cases of Chikungunya—which is normally spotted in tropical climates like South America and India.
The Chikungunya outbreak has occurred far earlier in the year than is typical and this could indicate the mosquitoes that carry Chikungunya are becoming increasingly at home in France thanks to climate change, the warning said.
The authorities have urged visitors to take precautions against the spread of this and other mosquito-borne pathogens.
It comes weeks after UK vaccine chiefs suspended a newly approved jab for the Chikungunya virus from being given to people aged over 65, after reports of two deaths and 21 severe reactions related to the jab.
Officials also warned that Europe has also seen a rise in dengue—another mosquito-borne disease historically known as 'breakbone fever' due to the intensive bone pain—with 304 local cases last year.
This is a more than double the 130 recorded in 2023 and quadruple the 71 recorded in 2022.
West Nile virus—another pathogen spread by invasive mosquitoes and which was detected in UK insects for the first time earlier this year —is also surging.
Last year 1,436 cases of West Nile Virus in people were reported across 212 European regions encompassing 19 countries.
This compares to 713 cases across 123 regions in 2023, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
As such ECDC officials have warned travellers to take precautions when visiting areas where invasive mosquitoes can be found.
These include 'applying mosquito repellent on exposed skin, wearing long sleeves and trousers, especially during dawn and dusk when mosquito activity peaks, and sleeping under bed nets or in rooms that are screened or air-conditioned if possible'.
French public health officials have also urged guidance to citizens in response to rising numbers of invasive mosquitoes, such as covering or emptying water containers the insects use to breed.
Similar warnings have also been issued in Belgium after environmental scientists reported increased numbers of tropical mosquitoes caught in traps.
While most disease spread by mosquitoes cannot be spread person-to-person, experts have said such cases have the potential to spread further outbreaks.
An infected person can travel to a different region and be bitten by a mosquito there, which can then spread it to locals and other tourists, creating a chain of cases.
Leading British experts have repeatedly warned of the 'slow march north' of pests that carry tropical diseases reaching the UK and becoming established.
Established means that the bugs that carry the pathogens have formed a self-sustaining population that natively breeds in Britain.
Locally transmitted cases of tropical diseases differ from imported cases, where people are bitten by a mosquito overseas and then fall ill upon returning to their home country days later.
Earlier this year, Britain recorded a record number of imported dengue cases with 904 in 2024.
Dengue patients often experience an abrupt onset of fever, followed by severe headache, pain in the eyes, joints and muscles as well as nausea and vomiting.
The disease was historically known as 'breakbone fever' in the 1700s because the pain it caused was so severe people felt like their bones were breaking.
Experts from the UK Health Security Agency have echoed advice from their European counterparts urging tourists to take steps like using insect repellent while aboard to reduce their risk of falling ill.
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He added, 'I also see that some countries have a self-interested motive – they want the income from Russian tourism. It's not just about visa fees; it's about money spent on hotels, shopping, tickets and so on. Russians are known to spend a lot. 'This undermines the credibility of our sanctions regime and sends a confusing message about our values.' Lifeline for dissidents Andrei Soldatov is a senior fellow with the Center for European Policy Analysis think tank and a Russian investigative journalist specialising in the activities of the Kremlin's secret services. He said the visas were valuable for dissidents and families that wanted to visit them abroad. He said, 'it is a problem which doesn't have a simple solution. These are also the countries which help people with anti-Kremlin views move out. 'To make it safe for these people one needs to hide their applications in a stream of other applications. 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There was an agreement, which made it faster and cheaper to obtain those tourist visas to enter the EU but it was suspended after Putin invaded Ukraine. Analysis of Schengen area visas also showed that Italy and France were leading the tourism rapprochement with Russia. Italy issued 152,254 Schengen area visas at its two Russian consulates last year, which was almost 19,000 more than in 2023. France issued a total of 123, 890, according to European Commission figures, 25,000 more than the year before. Spain issued 111,527, an increase of 15,000. Figures first reported by the EU Observer website showed a rebound in Schengen visas for Russians with 552,630 issued in total last year, an increase of nine per cent. Greece issued 59,703 visas and Hungary 23,382. Rome and Paris unrepentant 'Italy continues to regularly issue visas to Russian tourists who meet our requirements,' A spokesman for Antonio Tajani, the Italian minister of foreign affairs and deputy prime minister, said. 'Our opposition is to the Russian army's military operations in Ukraine, not to the Russian people.' The Elysée was presented with the statistics but did not respond to requests for comment. France has previously defended issuing visas to Russians. 'People-to-people relations and cultural ties can play a positive role in fostering mutual understanding and dialogue between populations,' the French foreign affairs ministry told EU Observer. 'We work hard at maintaining a differentiation between the regime responsible for the war and the population, its civil society, and the opposition,' it said. 'It is essential to maintain this window, to enable Russian society to get access to a plurality of reliable sources of information.' The British and Spanish government were asked for comment. The European Commission said they could not comment, despite being given 72 hours notice, because it was summer. Eurostat, the EU's statistics body, has collected data on the number of guest nights spent in 'collaborative economy platforms', which includes sites such as Airbnb and Expedia since 2018. The UK's Office for National Statistics has collected similar data since mid-2023, meaning pre-invasion figures are not available and there might be minor methodological differences between the two bodies. Data on broader hotel stays across Europe have not been updated for the entirety of Europe in 2024.
