Food poisoning during the London Olympics, fear of the Zika virus at the Rio Olympics in 2016... With more than 15 million visitors expected in Paris for the Olympic Games, the outbreak of the slightest epidemic could turn into a nightmare. Especially since some tourists could be potential vectors of indigenous diseases
.
But other health threats loom over the Olympic events: heat waves, food poisoning, cyber risks, crowd movements, terrorist attacks... Marie Baville, head of the health crisis center of the Directorate General of Health (DGS) , and his team, have listed a total of
“around forty risks and threats”
which could impact the provision of care during the event. And to counter them, the DGS has been preparing for two years for multiple scenarios.
Dengue, Covid, food poisoning...
The DGS has separated health risks into several categories. The first category concerns infectious risks:
“We were interested, for example, in typical arbovirus diseases: that is to say diseases transmitted by mosquitoes
,” she explains. Like dengue, Zika or even chikungunya. In France, the tiger mosquito is present over almost the entire territory. This category also includes epidemic risks such as Covid-19.
The risks of food poisoning are particularly feared by the government. In the viewfinder, in particular, the bacteria Escherichia Coli (E. coli) which are one of the best known causes of food poisoning, often impossible to treat and sometimes with fatal consequences. Finally, this category includes diseases such as Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), measles or meningitis,
“which can lead to specific management measures”,
specifies Marie Baville.
Heatwave, fire, crowd movements or attacks
The second category brings together environmental risks, and in particular heat waves
“whose probability and occurrence are significant”
, underlines Marie Baville.
“We also looked at the risks linked to bad weather which could have an impact on the provision of care.”
The third category concentrates “technological” risks, such as an explosion or fire which breaks out nearby.
“We also prepared for the risks of air pollution
,” she adds.
The last two categories bring together social risks such as crowd movements and terrorist and biological risks - anthrax or ricin - which could lead to numerous victims being taken into care.
Scenarios and full-scale tests
The DGS assures us:
“There are response plans or management measures for each health risk.”
According to the structure
,
the most likely risk is linked to heat waves. No need to produce a scenario specific to the Olympics because the risk
“is already well known”
. Like that of tiger mosquitoes, which we know well in overseas territories.
“We are preparing to have clusters of dengue cases. From the moment our surveillance system highlights cases, we trigger epidemiological investigations to trace the origin of the contaminations,”
says Marie Baville. The interest is to put in place appropriate actions as quickly as possible.
You too can fight against the tiger mosquito
To prevent the proliferation of tiger mosquitoes, it is necessary to remove their breeding grounds: find and eliminate all sources of stagnant water, such as plant saucers, flower pots, unused shower trays or containers containing water. You can also combine repellents, mosquito nets, larvicides of biological origin.
To avoid food poisoning, while millions of meals will be served in and around the Olympic sites, checks have been carried out in establishments located near the Olympic sites. If athletes fell ill, this would have repercussions on
“the organization of the games”
and thus jeopardize
“the reputation of France”
, declared the office of Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau on April 15. Since the start of the year, 1,500 checks have been carried out in Île-de-France.
Sexually transmitted infections and diseases (STIs and STDs) are also feared. Nearly 200,000 male condoms and 20,000 female condoms will therefore be distributed in the Olympic village during the Games.
Finally,
“the Health Crisis Center participated in several exercises with other ministries on terrorist and cyber risks and on chains of command,”
concludes Marie Baville.