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Chikungunya outbreak: China on high alert as Guangdong battles over 7,000 cases amid COVID like strict measures

Chikungunya outbreak: China on high alert as Guangdong battles over 7,000 cases amid COVID like strict measures

Hindustan Times13 hours ago
China's Guangdong region has recorded more than 7,000 cases of a virus spread by mosquitoes since July, triggering actions similar to the Covid-19 outbreak. Chikungunya patients are required to remain in hospitals in Foshan City, which has been the most severely affected.. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)(AFP)
Chikungunya patients are required to remain in hospitals in Foshan City, which has been the most severely affected. Mosquito nets are placed over the beds in these hospitals. They can only be released only after a week of treatment or a negative test.
The virus, which is spread by mosquito bites, produces fever and excruciating joint pain that can occasionally continue for years.
Despite being uncommon in China, Chikungunya epidemics are frequent in South and Southeast Asia as well as some regions of Africa.
What is Chikungunya?
Chikungunya fever is a viral disease spread by the Aedes mosquito. It cannot be contracted by coming into close proximity with another individual. Although the disease is rarely fatal, it can cause crippling symptoms that endure for weeks.
According to the notification, anyone who purchase the drugs must give pharmacists their personal information and disclose any recent chikungunya symptoms or mosquito bites.
According to state-run news site Southcn.com on Tuesday, several health authorities in Foshan have imposed administrative fines on enterprises that failed to eliminate mosquito breeding grounds, like hotels and restaurants.
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