Rare chikungunya disease strikes Malaysian village

A tiny coastal village in Malaysia's northern Perak state has been hit by a sudden outbreak of a rare mosquito-borne disease, health officials and local media said yesterday.

More 200 people have been diagnosed, and seven people have been hospitalized since the chikungunya disease, a form of viral fever spread by mosquito bites, was first detected two weeks ago in the village, health officials said.

Health Parliamentary Secretary Lee Kah Choon said the virus was believed to have been carried by immigrant workers.

"We do not discount the fact that immigrants working in the village were infected with the virus," Lee was quoted as saying by the Star daily.

Symptoms chikungunya, which is not considered to be fatal, include high fever, rashes on the limbs and trunk of the body, and arthritis affecting multiple joints.

Lee the government would continue to carry out chemical fogging in the village to kill mosquitoes.