Wired Measles, bedbugs, and dengue have all been cited as concerns for tourists and athletes at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, with the tropical virus in particular forcing authorities into action. Every time the Olympics come around, it seems there’s a different disease stalking the event. At Rio 2016 it was Zika. At the postponed Tokyo games it was Covid. And at the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer? Take your pick. Authorities have been working to contain both dengue and measles, which have been on the rise in France and many other countries.
During this summer’s Olympics and Paralympics, millions of people from around the world will concentrate in the host city: French authorities are preparing to welcome more than 15 million visitors to the country. Even for a capital used to mass tourism—almost 40 million people visit Paris every year—this is a huge influx of people. Some will bring infectious diseases with them. Others, without sufficient immunity, risk picking something up during their stay. With dengue and measles already a problem in Paris, authorities have been planning how to limit the potential of the Games becoming a superspreader event.
“It is very difficult to limit the epidemic risk when it comes to dengue,” explains Anna-Bella Failloux, a medical entomologist working at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. The virus is transmitted from human to human by mosquitoes, the culprit in France being the invasive tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus. The insect becomes an increasing problem when the weather warms up, and Europe’s hot summer is creating conditions for the species to thrive. “The eggs are very resistant, and the metabolism of the mosquito speeds up with the heat. The insect becomes an adult earlier, and, therefore, it bites earlier too.”