Jules Gedeon, the
Seychelles director for community health, said the number of people diagnosed
with "chikungunya" was steadily rising since it was first reported in
November and nearly 1,000 cases had been reported in January alone.
"We are still counting, but
the number is quickly approaching 1,000 for this week," Gedeon told AFP,
adding the country's security forces had been drafted for a nationwide mosquito
eradication drive to stall the spread.
In addition, the health
ministry announced Thursday it would take legal action against people who do
not take measures to control mosquito breeding on their property.
Authorities in
Madagascar and the overseas French territory of Reunion, where some 45,000 new
cases have been reported since mid-December, have reported outbreaks.
Last week, the French
government drafted 400 extra troops to help fight the mosquitoes that have been
spreading the disease across Reunion since March.
On Madagascar, about
800 kilometers (500 miles) west of Reunion, a health official said Thursday
that two more people had shown symptoms of the disease after dozens flocked to
a hospital on the eastern side of the island with similar complaints in the
past two weeks.
"Two patients admitted
today at Toamasina hospital they had joint pains that strongly point at
chikungunya," Mosa Milasoa, an official in Madagascar's health ministry,
told AFP.
"Chikungunya"
is Swahili for "that which bends up" and refers to the stooped
posture of those afflicted by the crippling and extremely painful disease for
which there is no known vaccine or cure.
It is characterized by
high fever and severe rashes, and while non-fatal in itself and most people
eventually recover, it can provide opportunities for other diseases to set in.
Health officials in the
Seychelles attributed the recent sharp rise in cases of chikungunya to heavy
rains that have been pounding the island since December.
No deaths have so far
been reported, but it has affected several businesses as infected people have
stayed home from work and the transport sector has been badly hit with bus
schedules interrupted as drivers fall sick, they said.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/02/060202183904.ny61htp1.html