Chikungunya Virus Speeding Through Indian Ocean Island Nations

[hatrack]

mosquito-borne disease on France's far-flung island of La Réunion, which has infected one in seven residents, may be responsible for the deaths of dozens of people, the French Health Minister said. Xavier Bertrand said 77 deaths in January were "directly or indirectly attributable" to the chikungunya virus on the small island in the western Indian Ocean. This was "a radically new situation, which was not expected, as scientific research showed that chikungunya did not kill."

EDIT

The virus takes its name from a Swahili word meaning stooped walk, one of the side effects. Chikungunya is spread by mosquitoes and was first identified in Tanzania in 1952. The symptoms are a high fever, dehydration and severe rashes which can persist for several weeks. The disease also weakens the body's immune system. No cure or vaccine has been developed.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), in addition to 1,772 cases of chikungunya on La Réunion, the virus has also been reported on the nearby island of Mauritius, with 206 cases, and in the Seychelles, 1,700km (1,050 miles) to the north, where 1,255 cases have been logged.

M. Bertrand has come under attack from opposition Socialists and doctors for not having ordered simple preventive steps at the right time. "The first cases date from March 2005," said Christophe Desagneaux, a doctor in the town of Saint-André on La Réunion. "Drass asked GPs at the end of December to account for the number of cases by using a system of tables. But we were already too overworked to do this. As a result, the statistics were widely underestimated from the beginning.

EDIT

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article347377.ece

[Surya Gayatri]

1. Just heard about this yesterday from some

French friends of Mauritian origin. The disease is spreading across Mauritius & they fear for some family members down there. Nasty stuff. SG

[phantom power]

2. I am going to renew my politically incorrect conjecture...

that maybe our biosphere could get along OK without mosquitos. Just throwing that one out there...