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. 2024 Sep;29(36):2400195.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.36.2400195.

Peri-domestic entomological surveillance using private traps allows detection of dengue virus in Aedes albopictus during an autochthonous transmission event in mainland France, late summer 2023

Barbara Viginier  1 , Raphaëlle Klitting  2   3 , Clémence Galon  4 , Violaine Bonnefoux  5 , Christophe Bellet  5 , Albin Fontaine  6   2 , Élise Brottet  7 , Marie-Claire Paty  8 , Armelle Mercurol  9 , Nathalie Ragozin  9 , Sara Moutailler  4 , Gilda Grard  2   3 , Xavier de Lamballerie  2   3 , Frédérick Arnaud  1 , Maxime Ratinier  1 , Vincent Raquin  1
Affiliations

Peri-domestic entomological surveillance using private traps allows detection of dengue virus in Aedes albopictus during an autochthonous transmission event in mainland France, late summer 2023

Barbara Viginier et al. Euro Surveill. 2024 Sep.

Abstract

While locally-acquired dengue virus (DENV) human infections occur in mainland France since 2010, data to identify the mosquito species involved and to trace the virus are frequently lacking. Supported by a local network gathering public health agencies and research laboratories, we analysed, in late summer 2023, mosquitoes from privately-owned traps within a French urban neighbourhood affected by a dengue cluster. The cluster, in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, comprised three cases, including two autochthonous ones. Upon return from a recent visit to the French Caribbean Islands, the third case had consulted healthcare because of dengue-compatible symptoms, but dengue had not been recognised. For the two autochthonous cases, DENV-specific antibodies in serum or a positive quantitative PCR for DENV confirmed DENV infection. The third case had anti-flavivirus IgMs. No DENV genetic sequences were obtained from affected individuals but Aedes albopictus mosquitoes trapped less than 200 m from the autochthonous cases' residence contained DENV. Genetic data from the mosquito-derived DENV linked the cluster to the 2023-2024 dengue outbreak in the French Caribbean Islands. This study highlights the importance of raising mosquito-borne disease awareness among healthcare professionals. It demonstrates Ae. albopictus as a DENV vector in mainland France and the value of private mosquito traps for entomo-virological surveillance.

Keywords: Ae. albopictus; Arbovirus; Autochthonous; Epidemiology; Mosquito; Surveillance; Vector; dengue.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Reported autochthonous dengue cases per department in mainland France, 2010–2023 (n = 140 cases)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Timeline of events in an autochthonous human dengue cluster in a town of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, late summer 2023 (n = 3 cases)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Detection of RNA from dengue virus serotype 2 in Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, caught in a private trap in an area concurrently affected by a cluster of dengue cases after (A) separating mosquito species and (B) testing pools for viral infection, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, 2023 (n = 4 mosquito pools)
Figure 4
Figure 4
Phylogenetic relations between the dengue virus serotype 2 detected in mosquitoes, which were trapped in an area concurrently affected by a cluster of dengue cases in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and other dengue viruses from the dengue epidemic in the French Caribbean Islands, 2023–2024
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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