Chikungunya outbreak at risk from Indian Ocean islands

The World Health Organization Health (WHO) warned today of the risk of a virus epidemic chikungunya. Diana Rojas Alvarez of the WHO said in Geneva that the warning signs are the same as the 2019 epidemic years ago and that we must prevent it from happening again. Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease that causes fever and severe, often debilitating, joint pain. in some cases it can be lethal. Rojas Alvarez recalled how between 2004 and 2005 a serious epidemic of chikungunya occurred originated in the Indian Ocean, initially affecting small island territories before spreading globally and affect nearly half a million people. "Today, WHO is seeing the same pattern emerge: from the beginning of 2025, Reunion, Mayotte and Mauritius have reported major outbreaks of chikungunya. It is estimated that a a third of the population in Reunion has already been infected," he said. the expert said. Like 20 years ago, the virus is spreading in other places in the region, such as Madagascar, Somalia and Kenya, and also in South Asia. Cases have also been reported in Europe, "imported" from the islands of the Indian Ocean. In France local transmission has been reported and in Italy there have been suspected cases detected. Chikungunya virus is transmitted to humans through bite of infected female mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus commonly known as tiger mosquitoes. It is a variety of insect that is pushing further and further north with the global warming and which also stings during the hours diurnal, with peaks of activity in the early morning and late in the evening afternoon.