{"id":33329,"date":"2025-08-05T18:33:41","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T18:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=33329"},"modified":"2025-08-05T18:33:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T18:33:41","slug":"chikungunya-virus-explained-as-china-introduces-covid-measures-to-fight-7000-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=33329","title":{"rendered":"Chikungunya virus explained as China introduces ‘COVID measures’ to fight 7,000 cases"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A province in China has instated COVID-like measures after reporting 7,000 cases of Chikungunya virus. <\/strong><\/p>\n

People across 13 cities in the Guangdong area have been infected with the mosquito-borne virus.<\/p>\n

The city of Foshan, located northwest of Hong Kong, appears to be the epicenter of the outbreak.<\/p>\n

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Patients must stay in hospital, protected by mosquito nets, and can only leave once they’ve tested negative for the virus, the BBC reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

China<\/a> recorded almost 3,000 cases in the province in the last week alone. The province’s population is 127.06 million, according to figures from 2023.<\/p>\n

A 12-year-old boy became the first confirmed case in Hong Kong in July after returning from Foshan, reporting a fever, rash and joint pain.<\/p>\n

The US<\/a> has advised people traveling to China to proceed with caution.<\/p>\n

Here’s everything we know about Chikungunya virus and how China has responded so far.<\/p>\n

What is Chikungunya virus?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Infected mosquitos are responsible for the outbreak (Smith Collection\/Gado\/Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n

Chikungunya virus is spread via the bite of an infected mosquito. It isn’t contagious, so can’t be passed on from human to human.<\/p>\n

The World Health Organization explains<\/a> it’s an RNA virus in the alphavirus genus of the family Togaviridae.<\/p>\n

Its name, chikungunya, derives from a word in the Kimakonde language of southern Tanzania – where the virus was first identified in 1952 – meaning ‘that which bends up’. It describes the appearance of infected people who experience severe joint pain.<\/p>\n

Infections have been recorded across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.<\/p>\n

Newborn babies and adults over the age of 65 are most at risk, as are those with health<\/a> conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease<\/p>\n

What are the symptoms of Chikungunya virus?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Chikungunya virus isn’t usually fatal (Dalibor Despotovic\/Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n

Chikungunya symptoms are generally similar to other dengue and Zika viruses, making it difficult to diagnose.<\/p>\n

Common signs including a ‘abrupt onset’ of fever, as well as headache, muscle ache and rash.<\/p>\n

Chikungunya virus might also manifest as joint pain and swelling, the CDC explains<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While most patients feel better within a week, joint pain can persist for months and can be ‘severe and disabling’.<\/p>\n

The World Health Service adds that patients with severe diseases may be hospitalized due to the risk of organ damage and death.<\/p>\n

However, fatalities from the virus are rare.<\/p>\n

Chinese authorities have said cases of the virus reported so far have been mild, with 95 percent of patients discharged from hospital.<\/p>\n

What measures has China implemented?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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A sanitation worker in Dongguan, Guangdong Province (VCG\/VCG via Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n

China has taken a number of steps to battle the onslaught of Chikungunya virus cases.<\/p>\n

The World Health Organization advises that the best way to prevent spread is to eliminate breeding grounds for mosquitoes – specifically pools of stagnant water. So, residents told to get rid of sources in their homes, including flowerpots, bottles and coffee machines.<\/p>\n

If they fail to do so, they’ll be fined up to 10,000 yuan, or $1,400.<\/p>\n

Drones are even being deployed to help locate stagnant water from above.<\/p>\n

Large, genetically altered mosquitoes known as ‘elephant mosquitoes’ have also been released<\/p>\n

Droves of so-called elephant mosquitoes – large, genetically altered bugs – have been released in hopes that they eat the smaller, virus-carrying mosquitoes.<\/p>\n

And if that doesn’t do it, then hopefully some of the 5,000 mosquito-eating fish introduced into lakes in Foshan will.<\/p>\n

Sanitation workers have also been spotted spraying insecticide in an attempt to curb infection rates.<\/p>\n

Cities surrounding Foshan had ordered travelers to undergo a two-week home quarantine – reminiscent of similar Coronavirus restrictions.<\/p>\n

This requirement has since been dropped, however.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/cite><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A province in China has instated COVID-like measures after reporting 7,000 cases of Chikungunya virus. People across 13 cities in the Guangdong area have been infected with the … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33331,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33329\/revisions\/33331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}