A chikungunya virus outbreak in the Guangdong Province of southern China earlier this month triggered preventative measures reminiscent of those taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city of Foshan, west of Guangzhou, has been the epicenter of the outbreak with more than 7,700 confirmed cases thus far. Health authorities in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, and other cities in Guangdong Province have also detected cases.
Local government elevated the emergency response level to III, confirmed by Yangcheng Evening News, after nearly 3,000 new cases emerged in just one week.
The next few weeks are especially daunting for disease prevention and control, say provincial authorities, after the flood season, worsened by typhoons and heavy rain, boosted mosquito activity.
Spread by the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes, global infections of the disease number at least 240,000 this year.
But the disease and rainfall will have an uneven economic impact on China, thanks to their localized nature, said Chim Lee, a senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
"In harder-hit areas like Guangdong, outdoor activity is discouraged, and many brick-and-mortar, consumer-facing businesses are seeing a drop in footfall," he added.
"Industrial and commercial operations are also feeling the strain."
What is the chikungunya virus?
The chikungunya virus is primarily transmitted by infected female mosquitoes of the Aedes genus, including Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Affected individuals typically experience sudden onset fever and severe joint pain, similar to dengue fever and the Zika virus. The disease is rarely fatal, but joint pain can be debilitating and long-lasting.
To curb the virus's spread, Foshan authorities undertook preventative measures reminiscent of those during the COVID-19 pandemic. These included mass fumigation, drone-deployed mosquito repellent, mosquito nets distribution, community inspections, and movement restrictions. Fines were imposed on residents not complying with stagnant water source eradication instructions, as these are mosquito breeding grounds.
Recommendations include using insect repellents, wearing long-sleeved attire, and residing in mosquito-net-protected areas. Public campaigns are promoting actions to eliminate stagnant water accumulations in outdoor containers to contain the outbreak.
Awareness and vigilance remain critical as authorities work toward complete outbreak containment. "The risk of disease transmission is now under control in Foshan," said Kang Min, Director of the Infectious Disease Prevention Institute at the Guangdong Center for Disease Control and Prevention. However, Zhuang Shilihe, a medical expert from Guangzhou, warned that although current mosquito-control measures have shown success, factors such as occasional heavy rains could facilitate further mosquito breeding, according to Global Times.