Cases of chikungunya fever have multiplied in southern China, encouraging local authorities to take measures to slow down its spread.
Here is the information available to date.
What is chikungunya?
Chikungunya fever – a term from a language spoken in southern Tanzania – is caused by a human -transmitted virus by infected mosquitoes.
Most cases are generally identified in Africa, Asia and America.
Symptoms include fever and joint pain, which can persist for a while, but are rarely fatal.
The magnitude of epidemics is difficult to assess, because the symptoms of chikungunya are similar to those of other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, such as dengue and zika.
Two chikungunya vaccines have been approved in several countries but are not yet widely used.
Infected people generally receive drug treatment, especially in paracetamol, to relieve symptoms.
What is the situation in China?
More than 7,700 people have been infected in recent weeks in the province of Canton (South), according to an article in the Chinese Association for Science and Technology widely relayed by Chinese State Media.
Most of the cases were recorded in the industrial city of Foshan, where 2,770 people were infected between July 27 and August 2, according to the local office control office.
Dozens of infections have also been detected in the neighboring town of Canton, and a first case was reported on Saturday in the territory of Hong Kong.
“The rapid acceleration of the epidemic has been controlled early,” said Kang Min, an official of the Disease Control Office in the province of Canton.
But “complex and severe challenges” persist, he added, in particular because of the high risk of imported cases as well as rain and typhoons that promote the proliferation of mosquitoes.
What measures have taken?
The officials of the province agreed at a meeting on Saturday wanting to “do everything to win the war of annihilation of the epidemic”.
They underlined the need to “mobilize the public” to fight against the conditions favorable to the reproduction of mosquitoes, by picking up for example empty containers or by cleaning the stagnant waters.
Images taken up by the Chinese Nouvelle state agency show patients with chikungunya lying on beds surrounded by mosquito nets.
But other measures seem more drastic.
Some patients were “forced to go to hospital”, and agents would have entered housing without the consent of their inhabitants, in search of stagnant waters, according to the New York Times media.
On images published by the state media and local authorities, helmeted and masked agents spray insecticides in parks and green spaces, where mosquitoes can proliferate.
Provincial authorities have also threatened fines of up to 1,000 yuan ($ 139), companies not taking sufficient measures against the reproduction of mosquitoes.
According to a publication on social networks, some Foshan residents have been deprived of electricity for not having respected the prevention rules.
Should we worry?
The United States recommends increased caution to travelers in the areas concerned in China.
However, the situation differs largely from the Pandemic of Covid-19, during which the Chinese Party Staff imposed strict and massive confinements which had aroused the dissatisfaction of part of the population.
Chikungunya is also not transmitted between humans and is only very rarely fatal.
Chinese authorities insisted that the disease was “avoidable, controllable and treatable”.
The World Health Organization has not issued any specific recommendations concerning this increase in cases in China.
AFP pair
