Eight babies were born without arms between 2009 and 2014 in the department of Ain, in a very tight area. While no cause has yet been detected, a study conducted by the Rhône-Alpes Malformation Register confirms that it is not due to chance.
While each year, only 150 cases are observed in France, between 2009 and 2014, eight babies were born without arms in the Ain, within a perimeter of 16 km. These cases had so far never been linked or explained by health authorities. These cases of agenesis (which are lack of formation of a limb or an organ during embryogenesis) have been a real mystery for years, but the Remera (Register of malformations in Rhône-Alpes), ensures that it is not “linked to chance”. The study was published on February 9, 2021 in the American journal Birth Defects Research.
What is the origin of the malformation?
Although the association is awaiting an expert opinion from Public Health France, Emmanuelle Amar, the general director of Remera and epidemiologist, delivers on the facts: "The study shows that there is indeed a spatio-temporal aggregate in this department, composed of eight children born with this very rare malformation, between 2009 and 2014 and in a circle of 16 km in radius around the town of Dompierre- sur-Veyle”.
The specialist also discusses the probable origins of these cases of agenesis. “We know that the origin of these cases is not mechanical, genetic, medicinal and occurs in a small very humid and very agricultural area. She is exogenous"-That is to say which is external to an organization or a system-, clarifies Emmanuelle Amar before adding"Chance is certainly not for nothing in this grouping of cases of malformations (…) Is it due to a phytosanitary product, cleaning, a painting … these hypotheses must be investigated, but it is not our role”.
Independent expert committees are working on the subject, and are trying to find the exact cause of this unusual problem. According to Remera, other cases have been observed in Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique.