Olympic Games Risk Spreading Tropical Diseases

Global health experts are warning that mosquito-borne diseases including dengue, Zika, and chikungunya could spread during the Olympics to nations where they are not typically common. This is in response to officials stepping up disease monitoring in the French capital. According to the most recent estimates from the Paris tourism agency, over 11 million tourists are anticipated to arrive in the French capital for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with about 1.5 million of those visitors coming from outside.

It coincides with a heightened risk of dengue fever in France due to a perfect combination of warm, humid weather and an increase in tiger mosquito populations brought on by global warming.

According to disease professionals, the majority of dengue infections are asymptomatic, and there’s a good chance that some people are carrying the illness abroad and that others are taking it back to their own nations.

Lecturer Najmul Haider of Keele University in the United Kingdom told SciDev.Net that large-scale events like the Olympics are always risky. It is highly probable that travelers who have dengue could spread the infection to other people in France.

Diseases acquired during the event, according to Osman Dar, consultant physician in global health at the UK Health Security Agency, might spread quickly in a nation where they are not yet well-established and quickly overwhelm a healthcare system that is not prepared for an outbreak.

According to Dar, SciDev.Net, “the importation of diseases is particularly problematic for a country where that disease is absent, but the vector [disease-carrying agent]… is present.”

“Where healthcare infrastructure and surveillance systems are weaker, this is particularly true in the global South.”

As per Dar’s analysis, keeping an eye on disease-carrying vectors like mosquitoes and tracking those exhibiting symptoms is imperative for promptly responding to any possible outbreak.

“It’s critical that travelers and medical professionals receive the necessary health information, both at home and in the nation they are visiting, so everyone is aware of what to watch out for,” he stated.

But frequent testing for diseases like dengue, which are uncommon in areas with limited resources, can be challenging, according to John Tembo, a scientific coordinator for Herpez, a medical research organization in Zambia. He issued a warning that this could result in outbreaks going unnoticed.

“It’s especially concerning if the disease has ambiguous symptoms that can be mistaken for other, more common ones,” Tembo told SciDev.Net.

“It might not be identified until it’s already become a serious health concern.”

Ideal storm

Because of globalization and climate change, mosquito-borne illnesses including dengue, Zika, and chikungunya have rapidly spread around the world.

According to the WHO, dengue poses a threat to almost half of the world’s population, with 100 to 400 million cases reported year.

As of right now in 2024, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reports that dengue has claimed 5,000 lives in 80 nations, mostly in Southeast Asia and Latin America.

Zika can cause serious birth defects if it infects a pregnant woman, while chikungunya shares symptoms with both dengue and zika, including high fever and joint pain.

Tiger mosquitoes, which are proliferating into previously uninfected areas, are the carriers of all three diseases. They were first brought to Southern Europe in the 1970s, and today they are widespread throughout Eastern, Southern, and Western Europe.

Even with this quick spread, a large number of dengue cases in Europe are imported. Health officials in France reported 2,166 imported cases between January and May of 2024. These instances were primarily linked to French departments abroad, including Guadeloupe, Martinique, and French Guiana, all of which are undergoing dengue epidemics.

In 2024, the national health agency of France, Santé Publique France, has only documented one incidence of dengue that was not imported. However, concerns about a perfect storm are growing due to the growing number of mosquitoes, rising summer temperatures, and rising dengue importation from endemic areas.

Tiger mosquitoes are primarily found in metropolitan areas and close to water sources, and the weather in Paris is perfect for them due to warm temperatures and torrential downpours that precede the commencement of the games.

Preventive Techniques
According to French authorities, precautions have been taken to stop disease outbreaks and keep an eye out for them. To look for tiger mosquitoes, the Greater Paris regional health agency has placed 526 mosquito egg-laying traps.

According to official data, there is a risk of tiger mosquito colonization in every department in Paris.

The organization states that efforts to lessen mosquito breeding grounds are concentrated on “areas conducive to mosquito proliferation near places of large gatherings.” This may involve catching the insects and eliminating water sources where they deposit their eggs.

The biomedical research foundation Institut Pasteur announced that it was closely collaborating with public health teams in Paris to enhance their ability to detect infectious diseases during the games in order to track cases of illness.

Health recommendations for attendees of the event have also been released by French authorities, the World Health Organization, and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

According to Giovanni Satta, a University College London lecturer who is presently on sabbatical at the World Health Organization, “being prepared is our best weapon when it comes to preventing outbreaks during big events,” as stated to SciDev.Net.

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