Three new dead “Linked to chikungunya” were recorded in Reunion, bringing twelve the number of victims to twelve since the start of the year on the island, announced on Wednesday May 7 Public Public Health (SPF), which reports in its weekly bulletin a slight drop in the epidemic. “These deaths occurred in people over 70 (…) comorbid carriers »mainly “Chronic pathologies”according to the public health agency, specifying that 28 other deaths, including a neonatal death, are being invested to know if they can be charged to Chikungunya.
SPF also reports that 3,079 cases were recorded in the last week of April, compared to 3,601 the previous week. “In week 18, emergency surveillance indicators and city medicine started a drop. Due to a holiday (1er May) and at the start of the school holidays, this trend will have to be confirmed in the coming weeks ”, According to the agency, which adds that “The chikungunya epidemic is still active throughout the territory”.
Almost 50,000 cases since the start of the year
The health agency also stresses that many people who have been contaminated in Reunion received a diagnosis of chikungunya until their arrival in mainland France. Gold, “With the arrival of a clearer weather and conducive to the activity of the vector mosquito, the current period in France is considered the period at risk of local transmission”notes SPF, which warns the risk of installing a “Aboriginal transmission chain” in France.
A total of 47,500 cases of chikungunya have been confirmed since the start of the year, according to SPF. The epidemic began in August 2024, but the cases exploded from March 2025. Before this outbreak, no case of Chikungunya had been reported since 2010 in Reunion. A large epidemic had touched 260,000 people there and left more than 200 dead between 2005 and 2006.
The disease, sometimes nicknamed “curved man’s disease”, is distinguished by joint pain, which in some cases can last up to several years, headaches or fevers that can be very brutal and intense. According to the Ministry of Health, the best ways to protect themselves are to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes and destroying the larval lodges when they are spotted.