Causes, symptoms and how to prevent chikungunya - as cases rise in the UK
A total of 73 cases of chikungunya were reported between January and June 2025 - more than double the 27 cases reported in the same period last year, the UK Health Agency (UKHSA) said.
Data released by the agency also revealed three cases of oropouche virus, marking the first time the virus has been reported in the UK.
Here is everything you need to know about both viruses, from symptoms to prevention and what could be behind the surge in cases.
What is chikungunya?
Chikungunya is a disease caused by a virus of the same name. It was first identified following an outbreak in Tanzania in 1952.
The name is derived from a word in the Tanzanian language Makonde, and means "that which bends up", owing to the joint pain it can cause.
It is spread by mosquito bites, specifically from yellow fever and tiger mosquitoes, in tropical and subtropical regions.
What are the symptoms?
Typical symptoms include fever, muscle pain, nausea, fatigue and a rash.
The UKHSA says joint pain can persist for months or even years, with up to 12% of people still experiencing discomfort three years after infection.
The majority of people who become infected recover within one to two weeks without needing medical attention.
Serious complications are uncommon, and only very rare cases are fatal. Babies or elderly people with other underlying illnesses are the most vulnerable.
The two mosquitoes known to transmit the disease, yellow fever and tiger, are not currently found in the UK.
How does oropouche virus differ?
Oropouche virus is spread predominantly by midge bites rather than mosquito bites.
While bites from both insects can cause red itchy lumps on the skin, mosquito bites are generally larger and more painful, while midge bites are smaller and may last longer.
Symptoms can be similar to chikungunya, and include joint paint, headache, chills, nausea and high fever.
The UKHSA says anyone who becomes unwell with these symptoms after travelling should seek "urgent medical advice".
Where can you catch the viruses?
Regular outbreaks of chikungunya occur in Africa, Asia and the Americas, with occasional smaller instances in Europe.
The UKHSA said the majority of the 73 reported cases from the first six months of this year reported travelling to Sri Lanka, India and Mauritius. The cases were linked to local outbreaks in the Indian Ocean region.
As of last month, there have been about 240,000 cases of chikungunya - and 90 deaths - in 16 countries, according to the European Centres for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Meanwhile, all the UK cases of oropouche virus were associated with travel to Brazil.
Last year, 44 cases were reported in several European countries including Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands, according to the ECDC.
China is currently experiencing the biggest chikungunya outbreak ever documented in the country, according to Cesar Lopez-Camacho of the University of Oxford.
More than 7,000 cases have been reported since June, with 90% of those concentrated in Guangdong province, which borders Hong Kong.
How to prepare before travelling
Dr Philip Veal, a consultant in public health at UKHSA said it is "essential" for people to take precautions against mosquito bites when travelling.
"Simple steps, such as using insect repellent, covering up your skin and sleeping under insecticide-treated bed nets can greatly reduce the risk," he said.
Checking the latest health advice on your destination before you travel is also recommended.
The LSHTM added that people can do the following to reduce exposure to mosquito and midge bites:
• Fit screens to windows and doors;
• Avoid peak activity during dusk and dawn;
• Get rid of any standing water where mosquitoes breed.
There are also two vaccines for chikungunya approved for use in the UK: IXCHIQ, for people aged 18 to 59 and Vimkunya, for individuals 12 years and older.
Both are available to buy privately from travel clinics after an assessment by a healthcare professional.
What's behind the increase in cases?
The number of outbreaks of chikungunya has increased since 2000, Robert Jones, an assistant professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) said.
Mr Jones put this boom partly down to climate change and urban expansion.
Dr Yang Liu, another professor at LSHTM, said the outbreak in China is not totally unexpected, but highlights the manifestation of a known risk, as yellow fever and tiger mosquitoes have been present in the area for many years.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
19 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Overweight Scots to be put on an NHS 'soup and shake' diet to reverse diabetes crisis
Thousands of overweight people are to be prescribed low-calorie soups and shakes on the NHS in a radical bid to tackle Scotland's chronic obesity problem. Doctors believe that a calorie-restricted diet could prove as effective as 'fat jabs' such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro – which have revolutionised weight loss treatment in recent years – as well as being a lot cheaper. In a nationwide rollout of a scheme called Total Diet Replacement, patients who have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and are deemed eligible, will get low calorie substitutes for their usual breakfast, lunch and dinner. The replacement meals – which contain a maximum of 900 calories a day – will be delivered to patients for between three and five months. After this initial period, normal food will be reintroduced, but with guidance given on healthy meals through online consultations and an app. The ambition is for patients to lose up to ten per cent of their body weight in the year-long plan. This will help to reduce blood pressure and lower their risk of disease. Doctors are also optimistic that up to 40 per cent will achieve remission from type 2 diabetes within the year. The NHS yesterday described it as a 'new, high impact technology that could improve patient outcomes and contribute to NHS renewal across Scotland'. Obesity is one of Scotland's most serious and intractable health problems, with around a third of the population officially obese and a further third recognised as overweight. Around 300,000 people live with type 2 diabetes, a condition commonly linked to obesity, where badly regulated blood sugar levels mean an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, stroke or nerve problems. The NHS has recently run small-scale trials of Total Diet Replacement, which is also available through private clinics. But from January, around 3,000 patients countrywide will be signed up for the National Digital Type 2 Diabetes Remission Programme. Diet replacement soups, shakes or food bars will be delivered directly to patients' homes. After several months of meal replacements, an app – which also tracks food and drink intake, weight, blood pressure, blood glucose and exercise – will provide dietary advice and tips on maintaining long term weight loss. Patients will also get online support from a health coach. In recent years doctors have targeted obesity and type 2 diabetes with semaglutide – available as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro – a drug which suppresses appetite and can lead to dramatic weight loss. Stars who have spoken about using the weight loss drugs include Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Elon Musk and Sharon Osbourne. Recent figures showed the NHS in Scotland is now prescribing a record 10,000 of these so-called 'fat jabs' every month. However a year's supply of the injections costs around £3,000 per person. There are also fears that the benefits only last as long as the patient is taking the drug. In contrast, soups and shakes should prove to be cost-effective and long lasting. The scheme is set to cost £5.6 million for 3,000 patients – a one-off cost of around £1,866 per person. The hope is that the year-long scheme will help patients to fundamentally alter their diet and lifestyle and produce long-term health improvements. A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: 'The programme will be used to support 3,000 people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes over the next three years, with the first recruited in January 2026. 'We anticipate that around 35 to 40 per cent will achieve remission from type 2 diabetes at the end of their first year on the programme, with a majority of patients benefiting from a clinically significant average weight loss of 10 per cent and reductions in blood pressure, all contributing to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. 'We will measure impact by the number of patients recruited into this programme, the number who achieve remission and the number with clinically significant weight loss.'
Daily Mail
19 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
NHS Scotland in fresh secrecy row after officials tried to withhold details about trans tribunal
NHS Scotland in fresh secrecy row after officials tried to withhold details about trans tribunal A secrecy row around NHS Scotland's handling of the Sandie Peggie case deepened last night as internal documents showed that spin doctors tried to water down what information could be released to the public. Emails reveal that PR bosses wanted to withhold details in response to freedom of information (FOI) requests about the landmark 'single-sex spaces' tribunal. They were reprimanded by an in-house lawyer who had to remind the health service of its legal duties. It is the latest twist in a transparency battle between the Press, NHS Fife and NHS Scotland over how much the tribunal is costing the taxpayer. The revelations also draw Scottish ministers closer to the secrecy scandal, given the chief executive of NHS Scotland, Caroline Lamb, is part of John Swinney's government. Mrs Peggie, 50, was suspended for challenging the presence of male-born Dr Beth Upton in the female changing rooms at Kirkcaldy's Victoria Hospital. Scottish Tory equalities spokeswoman Tess White said: 'This is another example of NHS Scotland's addiction to secrecy. Transgender medic Dr Beth Upton is at the centre of a 'single-sex spaces' employment tribunal NHS spin doctors wanted to change FOI responses to align with their media messaging 'NHS Fife, backed by NHS Scotland, shamefully tried to manipulate FOI responses so they could cover up their dire handling of the Sandie Peggie case. Those at the top of the board need to go, but [Health Secretary] Neil Gray is too weak to sack them. SNP ministers must order NHS Fife to be open and transparent.' Scotland's Information Commissioner, David Hamilton, also said the revelations could 'well be a cause for concern'. He added: 'It's vital that every freedom of information request is responded to properly and in full compliance with FOI law. 'It is clear that, in this case, some thought was given to the alignment of FOI responses with media lines. This could well be a cause for concern – comms messaging should align with FOI responses, not the other way round.' NHS Scotland was asked under FOI to reveal how much it is costing the taxpayer to defend the health board and Dr Upton against Mrs Peggie's claims. Under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2000, public bodies have a statutory duty to release information, barring a few exceptions. Sandie Peggie was suspended from NHS Fife amid a single-sex space row However, emails reveal that NHS Scotland wanted to massage responses to fit with its media 'messaging'. A communications official wrote on June 12 that they 'would like to align our messaging a bit more with the media lines issued', adding: 'So I am just going to take a look at tightening up some of the response in the morning, so will send updated version over.' That prompted in-house solicitor Stefano Rinaldi to write on June 24: 'It is important to remember this is a legal response in the sense it requires to comply with the statutatory requirements.' Carolyn Low, director of NHS National Services Scotland, said it 'remains committed to the principles of transparency, accountability and public access to information while ensuring that responses are clear, responsible and contextually appropriate.'
Times
an hour ago
- Times
‘Applying for a pension was a pain so I invented a better way'
Luke Mackey is a rare specimen: a 31-year-old serial tech entrepreneur, digitally native, who is manically interested in pensions and health insurance. Boring? Hardly. Kota, the company Mackey founded with his partners Patrick O'Boyle and Deepak Baliga, has raised more than €20 million from a list of investors that includes some of Europe's savviest venture capitalists. They include Northzone, an early backer of Spotify; EQT Ventures, part of the investment empire of Sweden's mega wealthy Wallenberg family; and Eurazeo, one of France's largest backers of tech. The local firm Frontline VC, which has a string of stunning exits to its name, is also a shareholder. The digital broker Kota has signed up 150 companies to use its technology to deliver pension and health insurance benefits to 'tens of thousands' of employees. Most work for fast-growing technology companies. It is partnering with 25 pension and health insurers — Mackey calls them carriers — across Europe, Canada, South Africa and India, and recently added its first insurer in Germany. Carriers include the South African-owned Vitality, the German multinational Allianz and the Spanish health insurer Sanitas. 'When we started it was taking a quarter [three months] to integrate a carrier,' he says. 'Our goal now is to add a [new] carrier every two weeks.' A number of global HR tech companies such as and HiBob are also embedding Kota technology into their platforms, accelerating the proliferation of the Irish company's technology and its revenues. Kota is not yet four years old. 'I have been in a start-up where you are working a lot of late nights, continuously pushing the boulder up the hill,' Mackey says. There are a lot of late nights at Kota, he adds, yet 'chasing the boulder down the hill is a lot more fun'. It's easy to see what's attracting venture capitalists. Making benefits easy for SMEs, increasing pension and health coverage, the company is addressing a huge market. When Mackey pulls the Kota app up on his smartphone, he can check his pension and increase his salary contribution. He examines his health insurance policy to see if he is covered for a forthcoming sinus operation. It's frictionless, à la Revolut. It integrates easily into the client company's payroll and HR system, à la Stripe. Is Kota the Revolut or Stripe of benefits? 'It depends on who we are talking to, HR or IT department,' he says. The company is also leaning into a sizeable opportunity in its home market. The government's auto-enrolment or mandatory pension regime, where every employee in the country must be offered a pension, is due to come into force from January. The state scheme MyFutureFund, which includes a top-up from the government, has its limitations so Kota is mounting a national roadshow to pitch its alternative, which it says is a quick, easy and cost-effective means of becoming auto-enrolment compliant. It is piggy-backing on a state initiative to increase awareness of pensions, to lift its profile through 20 breakfast and lunch meetings. Clever. Kota staffers pulled a late night last week stuffing envelopes with handwritten invitations with a QR code for registration. Mackey, a marketing graduate, was tickled by the idea of a digital-first tech company using 'snail mail' as opposed to an email shot. Auto-enrolment is 'another tailwind', he says. Mackey, a Dubliner, started his first business career when studying for his marketing degree at the National College of Ireland (NCI). With a school friend from CBC Monkstown he set up Spacefox Studios, which made marketing videos and built websites for restaurants and coffee shops. His office was a 'wherever I popped myself down', which was usually a coffee shop. He spent a lot of time watching queues, and customer frustration, building at peak periods. When he graduated from NCI in 2016, Mackey hooked up with a college friend, Alan Haverty, to create Bamboo, a mobile ordering app that made it easier for customers to pick up orders from restaurants close to their place of work at peak times. Within three years the company partnered with 100 restaurants in Dublin, Cork and Galway. • Ireland's 100 best restaurants for 2025 Funding the venture was 'painful', Mackey says. It raised cash from a small number of private individuals and Enterprise Ireland, who invested €225,000. Joe Elias, the US investor who invented vodka 'baggies', or spirits in a pouch, and sold the Irish company Retail inMotion to Lufthansa, also lent the company €200,000. In early 2019, an Australian company showed an interest in acquiring Bamboo as a launchpad into the European market. As talks went on, Bamboo continued to spend on its development. When the Australian suitor walked out, Elias moved to inject more funds and take control. Mackey left in early 2020, just months before the pandemic would crater the business. He needed a job — 'I had no savings' — and applied for the role of Ireland manager for Bolt, the mobility app. At 26 he was Bolt's first Irish employee as it looked to challenge the incumbent MyTaxi, which has become FreeNow. 'My job was to open up and grow the market,' he says. 'So that was everything from getting the licences to operate, hiring the core team, finding an office that our drivers could go to, marketing [Bolt] to drivers to get supply, and marketing it with the passengers to get demand. And doing that in a really short period of time.' It was, he says, one of Bolt's most successful launches. One of his tasks was to put a benefits package in place for employees, which then numbered just five. Like most of his peers, Mackey knew nothing about pensions or health insurance. 'I quickly learnt that brokers don't like working with small businesses. We were a five-person team, wanting to set up a pension. That's not very lucrative for them.' Through his mother, Mackey eventually found a helpful broker. He was sent a PDF by email that he downloaded and printed out. 'I had to fill it out and then scan and send it back to the broker,' he says. He circulated the PDF to other members of the team. None filled it out. It was 2021 and the stock markets were roaring, and his peers were busy trading stocks on Revolut. 'They just thought, jeez, this is a pain in the ass.' When the scheme was set up, there was more paper. 'I just thought there has to be a better way to do this,' he says. Mackey circled back and enlisted O'Boyle and Baliga, who had worked on Bamboo, to start developing the app. Its first provider was Irish Life. Kota secured approval to act as an insurance intermediate from the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK and the Central Bank of Ireland, which allowed the company to passport its service into Europe. Mackey never saw himself as an insurance intermediary. 'When you are a broker, it means you can talk to insurance companies,' he says. 'And when you talk to insurance companies, we can show them what the product looks like.' His experiences at Bolt taught him about keeping costs down and building at pace. Under the Kota model, insurers get access to distribution free of charge, while companies pay just €9 a month per employee, considerably lower than broker fees. Kota does not offer advice, but it does offer support. 'We talk through options,' he says. There are no commissions, no contracts, and the HR department is not shuffling mounds of forms and paperwork. Its clients are fast-growing, like Kota itself, which is hurtling towards 50 employees. The roll call includes Tines, arguably Ireland's hottest start-up, Belfast's Cloudsmith and the UK online car marketplace Carwow. It's a natural fit for rising tech stars, and while Kota revenues grow naturally from adding new customers, it also benefits from the growth of its existing customer base. The multiplier effect is potentially very powerful. This time around, fundraising has been an awful lot easier. That is partly because Mackey, O'Boyle and Baliga had done a lot of the groundwork before launch, speaking to up to 70 HR and insurance professionals to thoroughly research the opportunity. The investment deck included 20 pages of research with links back to the conversations. 'There was a lot of data,' Mackey says. The plan was to raise €600,000 for the trio to 'kind of hack away at a product for a year or so, and see where it goes', he says. But the pitch got traction. 'The angel [investor] bit got stoked up and then we got into a pretty hot venture round with VCs offering us a million [euros]. We had people telling us, 'You should really talk to this person'.' It was pushing one open door after another. 'One VC told us we know this area really well, we have been looking at this for the last three years, waiting for somebody with something like this to walk through the door,' he says. The founders met Elise Stern of Eurazeo at Dublin's Dogpatch Labs when they were looking for pre-seed funding. At the time the cheque size did not fit the VC's investment profile. Three years later, when Kota went out on a Series A fundraising, it took Stern just four weeks to sign up. Aside from the heavyweight VCs, Kota can count Cocoa, the high-profile London angel investor, and the early-stage funders Plug and Play and 9 Yards, which was founded by George Osborne, the former UK chancellor, as backers, with the Cape Clear founder David Clarke and Alexis Valentin, the former Meta executive, also on board. Mackey says his ambition is to build 'a great Irish technology company' and ultimately take Kota to the stock market. He certainly has the backers to get there. On a sweltering hot August day he can take stock on how far the company has come. 'It feels like it's still January or February because of just how quickly the year has gone by, and how exciting it's been,' he says. 'And that's just how it feels when you're a start-up. It's warp speed, it's high ambition, it's play to win.' Age: 31Lives: DublinMarital status: Single (in a relationship)Education: CBC Monkstown, National College of IrelandFavourite film: Stand by MeFavourite book: The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz Working: I get up at 7.20am. I start the morning in the coffee shop, on my laptop, usually for an hour, and then get into the office for 9am or 9.30am, and I am there until about 8pm or 9pm. Then home, dinner and I try to get some exercise. I will do a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon too — it's quiet. It sounds a lot but I genuinely love what I do. Downtime: Saturday is for sleeping in and catching up with friends and family. In the winter weeknights, I went out for a sauna with a few other founders — I know, it's very tech bro — but it's just a great way to clear the mind. I run when I can; my girlfriend runs so we run together. I did my first marathon in Copenhagen last year and hope to do a half-marathon before the end of the year. I used to race mountain bikes and it's something I absolutely miss. Sometimes you work hard to get the freedom to go back to things like that.
