Soldiers in protective equipment spraying plumes of disinfectant into the air. Drones roaring overhead. Quarantine-style measures creeping back into daily life.
Across China, the battle against the mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus is an unsettling deja vu of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This time – alongside human intervention – a force of ‘elephant mosquitos’ is also being rolled out to prevent a repeat of an epidemic that swept the globe two decades ago.
So far, more than 7,000 people have been infected, a few weeks after the World Health Organization issued an urgent call for action.
What is the Chikungunya virus?
Chikungunya, for which there is no specific treatment and which is spread primarily by Aedes mosquito species, including the ‘tiger mosquito’ which also transmits dengue, and Zika.
The virus is not spread from person-to-person and not through coughing, sneezing, or touching.
But spread can also happen through blood transfusions and the handling of infected blood in the laboratory.
It causes fever and severe joint pain among other severe symptoms. The name, derived from a Kimakonde language, means ‘that which bends up,’ reflecting the stooped posture of those suffering with joint pain.
While most recover within a week, some can develop chronic arthritis lasting months or even years. In some rare cases, Chikungunya can be fatal.
It was first identified in Tanzania in 1952 and later in Africa and Asia. Urban outbreaks were first recorded in Asia in the 1970s.
Since then, outbreaks have been recorded in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Chikungunya virus symptoms
Symptoms of the virus appear between four and eight days after a patient has been bitten by the infected mosquito.
Most symptoms are generally self-limiting and last for a couple of days.
People often suffer from a fever, which is frequently accompanied by joint pain. Other common signs and symptoms include muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash.
The joint pain is often debilitating and usually lasts for a few days but may be prolonged.
How bad is the outbreak and what measures are in place?
Diana Rojas Alvarez, a medical officer at WHO, told reporters in Geneva last month that an estimated 5.6 billion people live in areas across 119 nations at risk from the virus.
‘We are seeing history repeating itself,’ she added, drawing parallels to the 2004-2005 epidemic, which affected nearly half a million people, primarily in small island territories, before spreading around the world.
The current surge began in early 2025, with major outbreaks in the same Indian Ocean islands which were previously hit, including La Reunion, Mayotte and Mauritius.
An estimated one-third of La Reunion’s population has been infected, Rojas Alvarez said.
The virus is now spreading to countries such as Madagascar, Somalia and Kenya, and has shown epidemic transmission in Southeast Asia, including India.
In China, the city of Foshan city, in the central Guangdong Province, has been hit the hardest.
Another 12 cities in the Guangdong province have reported infections. Nearly 3,000 cases were reported in the last week alone.
Chikungunya poses a major threat to public health and Chinese authorities have been quick to introduce a plethora of measures.
Some of these include the clearing of stagnant water to prevent the spread of mosquitos and the installation of screens on doors and windows to stop the insects from entering homes.
Perhaps the most fascinating measure has been the introduction of the ‘elephant mosquitoes’ – whose larvae prey on the virus-carrying enemies.
How worried should we be about it spreading to the UK?
The risk of chikungunya spreading in the UK is currently low, as there is no evidence of local transmission.
Outbreaks have occurred in in France and Italy, but these have been small.
After the rise in cases in La Réunion, the UK government confirmed that the presence of the mosquitoes in European countries, and importations from infected travellers returning from endemic countries, means that the likelihood of it spreading in mainland Europe is high.
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