Lampung regency on chikungunya alert

Health authorities in South Lampung have declared a special alert for the chikungunya virus in Bakauheni district, after 121 residents contracted the disease.

The alert was issued following an increase in the number of infected residents, South Lampung disease prevention and surveillance chief Kristi Endrawati told Antara news agency Friday.

“During the rainy season, the spread of chikungunya disease has intensified,” she said.

The disease first infected residents in Hatta village before spreading to other areas of Bakauheni.

Once infected with the virus, victims typically develop a high fever, reddish spots, joint pains, flu symptoms and headaches and vomiting.

Numbers of the aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the chikungunya virus and spreads it in humans through its bite, were rapidly increasing in cacao plantation areas in the regency, she said.

Kristi said that the agency has held campaign asking local residents to bury cacao pods, which can hold water and become serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

“We have also conducted fogging in Bakauheni’s densely-populated areas, and provided medical services to locals,” she said.

In South Kalimantan regency of Banjar, at least 4,500 people were infected weith the disease over the past 40 days.

Banjar disease prevention agency chief Endah Labati said recently that the number was expected to increase because the mosquitoes were breeding quickly in the wet season.