The Chikungunya virus, transmitted by mosquitoes, infected several thousand people in China in recent weeks, constituting one of the most important outbreaks of this virus in the country since its first appearance almost twenty years ago.
More than 7,000 cases have been identified in the city of Foshan, located in the province of Guangdong, with isolated cases in other neighboring cities. Faced with this worrying situation, local authorities have set up an action plan combining conventional health measures and innovations to slow down the spread.
Based on a “COVID-19 guide”, they have deployed mass tests, isolated infected people, and disinfection of whole neighborhoods. Several dozen hospitals have been mobilized in Foshan, where the number of isolation beds equipped with mosquito repellents now exceeds 7,000.
Among the innovative measures, the authorities have introduced larvae eaten fish into urban water bodies, areas conducive to the proliferation of mosquitoes. They have also released “elephant” mosquitoes (giant non -biting mosquitoes) which feed on tigers mosquitoes, known to transmit the chikungunya virus.
Chikungunya is a virus mainly transmitted to humans by infected mosquito bites, including AEGYPTI and Aedes Albopictus species. These mosquitoes are also vectors of other diseases such as dengue or zika.
Chikungunya symptoms generally appear between 4 and 8 days after the bite. They include fever, fatigue, nausea, and especially severe joint pain that can last months, or even several years. The name “Chikungunya” means in Kimakonde language, spoken in southern Tanzania where the virus was discovered in 1952, “becoming twisted”, in reference to the curved posture of patients due to joint pain.
The virus is not transmitted directly between humans and is rarely fatal. However, infants and the elderly are more at risk of developing serious forms. No specific treatment exists, but paracetamol is recommended to relieve pain and fever.
