Français
At the end of October, the Agence régionale de santé (Regional Health Agency) reported the presence of Aedes Albopictus mosquito breeding sites in the Lorient district. This was an intriguing discovery, since no such specimen had ever been detected on Saint-Barthélemy. Since confirmation of the mosquito's "identity" by the Institut Pasteur de la Guadeloupe, ARS agents from Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy, supported by experts from the French Ministry of Health, have been working to gain a better understanding of the extent to which this new vector has penetrated the region. "Various surveillance operations were carried out in November, with reinforcements from Guadeloupe and Martinique's ARS.ARS Martinique, which revealed the presence of larval breeding sites in Lorient (around ten) and two in Saint-Jean", explains Paul Guibert, ARS Territorial Director for the Northern Isles.
Consequently, in order to stem the possible spread of Aedes Albopictus to Saint-Barthélemy, the ARS has announced thatan insecticide spraying operation will begin this Monday, November 9, in the Lorient, Saint-Jean and Petite Saline neighborhoods. The operation will also cover the island's "gateways", i.e. the airport and commercial port. According to Paul Guibert, these operations "make perfect sense in view of the observations" made in recent weeks.
Aqua K-Othrine, Vectobac, Vectomax G.
A local company (name withheld) has been appointed to carry out the spraying operations. It will be supported by agents from the ARS des Iles du Nord. The products to be used (Aqua K-Othrine, Vectobac, Vectomax G.) meet European standards. Spraying will take place at sunrise and sunset (when adult mosquitoes are most active). The aim will be to cover as much of the area as possible close to the identified breeding sites, in order to destroy as many mosquitoes as possible," explains Paul Guibert. It should be noted that, despite the resources mobilized, we won't be able to cover all the targeted neighborhoods, especially on private roads. So we feel it's important to point out that, for the fight against stagnant water to be fully effective, everyone needs to get involved and take care to destroy any stagnant water they identify: at home, at work, in the street, etc."
For the time being, the ARS territorial director emphasizes the fact that Saint-Barthélemy has few confirmed cases of dengue fever (just one in the week of November 18 to 24, for example). So, to date, this new mosquito has had no impact on the local epidemic dynamic," notes Paul Guibert. On the other hand, Guadeloupe has officially re-entered a dengue epidemic (serotype no. 3); the challenge is therefore to prevent these two phenomena (epidemic and emergence) from having any impact on the local epidemic dynamic.The challenge is therefore to prevent these two phenomena (epidemic and emergence) from converging, at the risk of a large-scale epidemic, which would have significant impacts on both health and the local economy."
Further vector control operations are already planned. Particularly if the next checks by ARS agents show that Aedes Albopictus has resisted the first chemical sprays.
