In an effort to prevent the spread of mosquito-born viruses, France is aiming to make the 2024 Paris Olympics mosquito-free.
If you thought the Olympic flame would just be burning citronella, it won’t. According to local news, the French government and the Paris Olympic organizing committee have hired a company to install 15 traps over a one-hectare area of “green and shady, humid areas” of the city next month. This is to stop virus-carrying tiger mosquitoes from disrupting the Paris Olympics, which will attract millions of visitors.
Over the last decade, the Asian tiger mosquito has inhabited western Europe, posing a significant health risk by transmitting diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. The government and committee see the mosquitos as a potential public relations nightmare to what is proposed to be the most digital Olympics ever. With the Games just four months away, experts are worried that a bite from a tiger mosquito could even jeopardize an athlete’s ability to compete.
An entomologist and expert on mosquito-borne diseases, Didier Fontenille, told Inside The Games: “If you have dengue, you’re not going to jump over any hurdles. The host cities and especially the Olympic Village must be kept mosquito-free.”
France reported 45 cases of dengue last year, all of them attributable to local transmission of the virus.
This is not the first time the Olympic organizing committee has attempted to tackle the mosquito issue. The 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro were staged during Brazil’s winter, when there are fewer active mosquitoes, and the risk of being bitten is lower. Organizers also cleaned pools of stagnant water around the Olympic venues, where mosquitoes breed, to minimize the risk of visitors coming into contact with them.
Tiger mosquitoes lay their eggs in stagnant water. The government is pushing locals to help fight the insect war by cleaning up dirty water from outdoor flower pots or trays.
Paris will also deploy thousands of anti-insect systems citywide to slash mosquito numbers and ensure a successful, bug-free Olympics.
