Key Points :
Over 7,000 chikungunya cases since July in Guangdong province, hardest-hit by Foshan city.
Foshan patients kept under hospital surveillance with mosquito nets; not discharged for a week or after a negative test.
Officials resort to mosquito-consuming fish, drones, and "elephant mosquitoes" to control the outbreak.
Key Background :
Chikungunya virus was first found in Tanzania in 1952 and has since appeared in more than 110 nations. It is transmitted by infected Aedes mosquitoes, similar to the case of dengue and Zika viruses. The World Health Organization emphasizes prevention of outbreaks through the elimination of breeding sites of mosquitoes, especially pools of stagnant water.
The disease's history has been in South and Southeast Asia, Africa, and areas of the Americas. Only sporadic cases have occurred in China, making this new outbreak in Guangdong highly out of the ordinary. So fast to spread—the nearly 3,000 new cases in a single week—has fueled public imagination and created comparisons to China's pandemic-era restrictions.
The worst affected is Foshan, a manufacturing hub in southern China. Symptomatic residents are compelled by local authorities to be tested, and confirmed cases are quarantined by hospitals. These measures may be strict but are designed to break the mosquito transmission cycle by preventing additional bites on infected cases.
Control measures go far beyond personal health measures. Mass environmental interventions, such as releases of mosquito natural predators and fines for failure to destroy breeding sites, exhibit a zero-tolerance approach. Use of drones and "biological mosquito control" illustrates a mix of high-tech and natural methods for disease prevention.
Public sentiments have been mixed. While some residents welcome the strict controls in terms of the debilitating long-term agony of chikungunya, others question if quarantine-like restrictions are necessary for a non-contagion disease. Weibo online users have equated the controls to Covid-19 lockdowns, reflecting lingering sensitivities against government control over mobility.
In general, chikungunya is a global public health issue because of its speed of transmission in tropical and subtropical environments, its crippling symptoms, and the fact that there is no specific antiviral therapy. Although most patients recover completely, chronic joint pain can afflict quality of life and economic productivity.
Chinese
health officials now worry with intensive control of mosquitoes and
prompt detection of cases. Since Guangdong experiences a subtropical
climate and high population density of urban areas, the coming weeks
will be critical in determining whether these measures are enough to
prevent further transmission of the outbreak to other provinces.
About the Author
Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith is a Managing Editor at World Care Magazine.