As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today.
The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month.
Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716 cases this year.
Photo: Lin Chih-yi, Taipei Times
Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television said that 2,770 of last week’s cases were from Foshan and 65 were from Guangzhou.
In response to the surge in infections in southern China, the US on Friday issued a level 2 travel alert, or “practice enhanced precautions,” for China.
The CDC said chikungunya fever is an acute infectious disease transmitted to humans when they are bitten by an infected mosquito, primarily the yellow fever mosquito and the Asian tiger mosquito, and has been identified in more than 110 countries.
Its symptoms are similar to dengue fever, such as high fever, headache, joint pain (lower back, ankles, knees, wrists or phalanges), joint swelling, rash, muscle pain, nausea and fatigue, the centers said, adding that in some patients, the severe joint pain could last weeks, months or even years.
There is no specific antiviral treatment for chikungunya virus infections, only medications to alleviate the symptoms, it said, adding that it rarely causes severe illness or death, and that most people fully recover.
However, newborns, people who are 65 years old or older, and those with medical conditions such as diabetes or heart disease are at risk of more severe illness from infection, the US’ centers said.
CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) yesterday said that Taiwan is close to China and has the mosquitos that transmit the virus, adding that the recent typhoon and heavy rainfall also increase the risk of spreading mosquito-borne diseases.
The CDC is paying close attention to the outbreak in China, while considering if Taiwan should raise the travel notice level, she said, adding that they plan to announce their decision during their weekly news conference today.
As of yesterday, Taiwan has reported 16 cases of chikungunya this year, all of which were brought in from other countries, including 13 from Indonesia, two from the Philippines and one from Sri Lanka, CDC data showed.
According to the WHO’s fact sheet, the name “chikungunya” is derived from a word in the Kimakonde language of southern Tanzania, meaning “that which bends up” — describing the contorted posture of people who are infected and have severe joint pain.
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