Paris (AFP)

Former overseas minister Ericka Bareigts, PS deputy for Reunion, has been appointed chair of a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the spread of Aedes mosquitoes ("tiger mosquitoes") and vector-borne diseases (zika, chikungunya , dengue fever, etc.), the National Assembly announced Thursday.

The rapporteur for this committee will be the LREM deputy for Mayotte Ramlati Ali.

From a socialist "niche", the creation of a commission of inquiry into the spread of the "tiger mosquito" was adopted on December 12.

Its objective is in particular the evaluation of prevention policies and public policies in the fight against the spread of this mosquito and related diseases, such as dengue, chikungunya, zika, or yellow fever or West Nile virus.

The commission of inquiry, made up of 30 deputies, will also aim to assess research, notably entomological, medical and epidemiological, on the subject.

His report is expected to be adopted by early June.

This commission of inquiry "is not intended to put anyone on trial, but rather to look with intelligence and voluntarism at the magnitude of the task and the dangers which are before us," said the MP in December, stressing the "massive and rapid intense proliferation" of the "aedes albopictus" (type of tiger mosquito, editor's note), considered to be one of the main causes of vector-borne diseases.

"This phenomenon is set to increase in the years to come due to global warming", and "the colonization of the hexagonal territory is therefore inevitable," she added.

"For the first time present in mainland France in 2004, the tiger mosquito is present in 60 hexagonal departments, today", according to the deputy.

The chikungunya epidemic in Reunion in 2005-2006 had affected 266,000 people and left 267 dead, according to Ms. Bareigts. "Reported to France, there are more than 22 million people affected and more than 22,000 dead," she said.

As for the dengue epidemic that has hit the island for two years, it "represents nearly 2 million cases, 180,000 emergency visits and more than 1,500 deaths" in France.

© 2020 AFP