Chikungunya Virus Confirmed In France - At Least 30 Cases - AFP

A crippling epidemic that has swept over the French island Reunion in the Indian Ocean has started to make an appearance in mainland France, with at least 30 cases recorded, a doctor at a Paris hospital said Saturday. Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne disease whose name is derived from a Swahili word meaning "that which bends up" because of its painful, arthritic-type symptoms that leave victims stooped, has been brought into France.

The disease has enetered the country via people who have visited Reunion, Francois Bricaire, the head of an infectious diseases unit, told Europe 1 radio. "We have people coming back from Reunion island who have the symptoms of chikungunya and with diagnostics that have confirmed it," he said. He added that it was "possible" there were other cases in France that have so far gone undetected.

Though not usually considered fatal, the disease has been blamed for directly or indirectly causing the deaths of 77 of the 157,000 people reported to have contracted it in Reunion.

The infection has affected around 20 percent of the French island's population, and cases have also been recorded in a nearby French island of Mayotte, as well as in Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles. French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin was to visit Reunion on Sunday amid criticism that his government has failed to act swiftly in response to the growing health crisis.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Crippling_Indian_Ocean_Epidemic_Detected_in_France.html

Very nice place to visit. A good case for keeping ones immunizations current.

Most places down there had pretty good mosquito control measures. We always took some sort of pills too, I don't remember what they were. I always wanted to retire down that way, actually. But that was back when I had a future, things have changed rather drastically.

...doing the rounds in France in March?!