Originally published February 26 2006
Island communities suffer from mosquito-born illness
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Jules Gedeon, the Seychelles director for community health, talks about his country's push against a mosquito-born disease known as chikungunya, which has infected nearly 2,000 people.
Nearly 2,000 people in the Seychelles have been infected with an incurable mosquito-borne disease that has spread to three Indian Ocean islands prompting health alerts, officials said.
Jules Gedeon, the Seychelles director for community health, said the number of people diagnosed with "chikungunya" was steadily rising since it was first reported in November and nearly 1,000 cases had been reported in January alone.
"We are still counting, but the number is quickly approaching 1,000 for this week," Gedeon told AFP, adding the country's security forces had been drafted for a nationwide mosquito eradication drive to stall the spread.
In addition, the health ministry announced Thursday it would take legal action against people who do not take measures to control mosquito breeding on their property.
Authorities in Madagascar and the overseas French territory of Reunion, where some 45,000 new cases have been reported since mid-December, have reported outbreaks.
Last week, the French government drafted 400 extra troops to help fight the mosquitoes that have been spreading the disease across Reunion since March.
On Madagascar, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) west of Reunion, a health official said Thursday that two more people had shown symptoms of the disease after dozens flocked to a hospital on the eastern side of the island with similar complaints in the past two weeks.
Health officials in the Seychelles attributed the recent sharp rise in cases of chikungunya to heavy rains that have been pounding the island since December.
No deaths have so far been reported, but it has affected several businesses as infected people have stayed home from work and the transport sector has been badly hit with bus schedules interrupted as drivers fall sick, they said.
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