Cases of Chikungunya, a painful, mosquito-borne disease, have more than doubled in the UK.
At least 73 cases were reported in the first six months of the year, up from 27 in the same period last year, according to official figures released today.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said most infected people had travelled to Sri Lanka, India and Mauritius.
Where are the chikungunya virus infections being reported?
In London, 43 travellers reported suffering from chikungunya, the highest in the UK.
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There were 16 cases in the South East, with five in the West Midlands and four in the East of England. None were flagged in Wales and Northern Ireland.
The UKHSA also said the first cases of the oropouche virus had been recorded. Oropouche, transmitted by biting midges, causes symptoms resembling those of dengue: high fever, headaches and joint pain.
What is chikungunya?
The chikungunya virus was first detected in Tanzania in the 1950s. It’s an RNA virus, the chemical family from which the first forms of life are thought to have emerged, which is behind some epidemics.
The origin of its name says it all – a word from the local Makonde people which means ‘that which bends up’, the way people sickened with it contort in pain.
Chikungunya virus symptoms
The disease is rarely fatal but can cause fever, severe joint pain, fatigue, nausea and patchy red rashes within a few days after the bite.
Most people recover within weeks, but may live with joint pain for months. Older patients, newborns and people with preexisting health conditions are the most at risk.
How contagious is the chikungunya virus?
People can become infected with chikungunya when mosquitoes feed on a sick person and then bite a healthy person.
Unlike conditions such as the common cold or coronavirus, the disease is not spread through coughing, sneezing or touching.
Which mosquito causes chikungunya?
Chikungunya is carried by the Aedes mosquito, otherwise called the ‘flower mosquito’, which also transmits dengue and Zika.
Should people in the UK be worried?
Howard Carter, a bite prevention expert who founded the bug repellent brand Incognito, told Metro: ‘Yes, people should be very wary.
‘Whenever Brits go abroad, 64% don’t take insect repellent with them and bring mosquito-borne diseases back to the UK.’
Carter doubts a major outbreak will happen in the UK and stressed people have a ‘low chance’ of catching the disease.
‘However, all it takes is for a mosquito in the UK to bite someone with chikungunya and then you have an outbreak,’ he added.
The UKHSA stressed that the Aedes mosquito, which thrives in warm, wet climates, won’t be calling the UK home anytime soon. We’re too dreary and grey for the insect to survive and breed.
‘Therefore, there is currently no risk of onward transmission of chikungunya in the UK,’ the agency said, referring to the disease spreading from one person to another.
The virus, sometimes called CHIKV, has been tearing through Africa and Asia for years and has increasingly leapt borders, affecting millions of people across 110 countries.
Cases spreading from Indian Ocean islands to Europe, including France and Italy, prompted the World Health Organization in July to call on countries to act.
Carter said the uptick is down to climate change, as planet-warming gases are leading to warmer, wetter weather, which mosquitoes thrive in.
China has been especially hard hit by an outbreak of the virus. More than 6,000 cases have been reported in Foshan, a city in southern Guangdong, as of July 31, China Central Television reported.
The city of 10million has been asked to take part in a ‘patriotic public health campaign’ to curb the spread, such as chucking out all stagnant water from flower pots, coffee machines or buckets.
Quarantine zones covered in netting, mosquito hunting- drones whizzing overhead and masked soldiers spraying insecticide are now a daily occurrence.
‘Everyone is primarily responsible for their own health,’ one of the campaign’s slogans says.
Officials are building ‘mosquito factories’ to breed hundreds of millions of elephant mosquitoes, whose larvae prey on the virus-carrying mosquitoes.
On Weibo, a Chinese social media app, users have described panic-spraying their arms and legs with mosquito repellent, wary as they walk past puddles and rivers.
‘I do not dare to wear shorts,’ one user who recently returned from Shenzen said.
Another added: ‘Every day is either a rainstorm warning, a typhoon warning or chikungunya fever.’
One local from Zhejiang, an eastern province, uploaded footage of four frogs nibbling on mosquitoes buzzing around them.
‘The Four Saints of the Toad Clan guard the Demonic Abyss!’ the Weibo user, a technologist blogger, said. ‘To prevent chikungunya fever, it is better to use ecological prevention instead of building mosquito factories.’
For those wary of a repeat of the coronavirus pandemic, two vaccines for the virus have already been approved for UK use.
IXCHIQ and Vimkunya can be purchased privately from travel clinics.
How can I prevent mosqito bites?
Carter recommended to Metro that travellers use his ‘CLOAK’ method:
C – Cover up arms and legs with suitable clothing.
L – Light coloured clothes are strongly advisable because mosquitoes are attracted to dark colours.
O – Odours, bodily or ordinary scented washing products and perfumes can be strong attractants. So wash with citronella or other repellent shower gels, shampoo and soaps. If you are a mosquito magnet, exfoliate with a loofah.
A – Apply an effective, preferably natural, insect repellent containing PMD (or p-Menthane-3,8-diol, a synthesised lemon eucalyptus oil which is a natural repellent).
K – Keep away from stagnant water if possible.
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