CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Health has confirmed an outbreak of chikungunya, a mosquito-borne disease, in three villages of Patnongon town in Antique province.
DOH-6 epidemiology and surveillance unit chief Glen Alonsabe told The Freeman that there are now 313 suspected cases of chikungunya in these villages.
According to Ruth Alma Ramos of the DOH National Epidemiology Center, of the seven serum samples tested, six were found positive of the virus.
The World Health Organization said that chikungunya is a viral disease that is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes – including Aedes aegypti, the dengue-carrying mosquito, and Aedes albopictus.
The symptoms (high fever, joints pain, swelling rashes, headache, muscle pain, nausea and fatigue) usually appear between four and seven days after the patient is bitten by the infected mosquito.
Chikungunya shares some clinical signs with dengue and can be misdiagnosed in areas where dengue is common, but Alonsabe said that, while chikungunya has symptoms similar to dengue, it is rarely fatal. (FREEMAN)