Virus outbreak in Madagascar
2010-02-25 17:03
Antananarivo - A district in the south-east of the impoverished Indian Ocean island of Madagascar is battling an outbreak of the mosquito-borne chikungunya or "stooped walk" virus, a local newspaper reported on Thursday.
Chikungunya, which is transmitted by a bite from an infected mosquito, causes high fever, headaches and severe joint pain that can last several weeks.
Around 44 000 families in and around Mananjary, a small port town on the Mananjary River, have been affected by the outbreak, the Malaza daily reported.
The virus gets its name from the Swahili for stooped walk, after the appearance of a person affected by the disease, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The latest outbreak in Madagascar has spread rapidly since the first case was diagnosed in the capital Antananarivo on February 11.
Over 60% of the population in eight Mananjary neighbourhoods were receiving medical attention after displaying symptoms, the report said.
Checkpoints had been set up on access roads leading to the town and all incoming vehicles were being sprayed with insecticide.
There are no specific treatments nor a vaccine for chikungunya, which occurs during the rainy season in parts of Africa, South-East Asia, southern India and Pakistan, according to the WHO.
The virus is rarely deadly, but a number of fatalities were reported during a severe outbreak in La Reunion Island near Madagascar in 2005/2006.
- SAPA