Open Outbreak

Should I be worried about Dengue in France?

Updated · Graded from official assessments; nothing here is medical advice.

Dengue in France · moderate

If you are in the affected area no assessment
No agency has published an assessment for people in the affected area in metropolitan France. No French dengue bulletin with a risk level was retrievable.
If you are elsewhere in the same country or region no assessment
No agency has published an assessment for people elsewhere in France. No French dengue bulletin with a risk level was retrievable.
If you are travelling there soon no assessment
No agency has published an assessment for travellers to metropolitan France. No dengue-specific travel notice with a risk level was retrievable.
If you are elsewhere in the world high
WHO assessed the global risk from dengue as high in its global situation updates on 21 December 2023 and 30 May 2024. That is a global dengue assessment, not a France-specific one. According to WHO

What is happening

Metropolitan France is monitoring locally acquired dengue episodes in 2026, which is unusual in a non-endemic European setting. National surveillance has indicated autochthonous episodes in metropolitan France, including at least one in Dordogne. At least one episode has already been closed, but the retrieved documents did not provide the current number of confirmed cases or which departments besides Dordogne are affected. There are no current official figures in the retrieved documents, and no usable recent media count was retrieved either. Officials still need to clarify whether any transmission focus remains active and what mosquito-control, case-finding, and blood-safety measures are in force.

Who is affected and how it spreads

Dengue is a viral infection spread mainly through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes, especially Aedes aegypti and, to a lesser extent, Aedes albopictus. WHO describes dengue as most common in tropical and subtropical settings, but local transmission can appear in places with suitable mosquito vectors. Many infections cause no symptoms or only mild illness, but some people develop severe dengue. Infection with one dengue type does not give lasting protection against the others, which is one reason outbreaks can return.

What we are watching

Updates

Sources