Asia-Pacific Daily Report

In India's western province of Karnataka, a taluk (administrative division) in the district of Hassan suspects that a chikungunya (virus) outbreak has affected more than 300 people, and has caused the recent death of a 55-year-old man, SahilOnline and The Hindu reported this week. The health officer in Holenarasipur taluk, Dr. Rajesh, claims that despite illnesses occurring for almost a month, he was not aware of the infections in the village until April 30, SahilOnline reported on Monday (May 3). Dr. Rajesh said he had directed Dr. Sidde Gowda to visit the village on Saturday (May 1), but Dr. Gowda said that he had already treated all the cases, The Hindu reported. Some time ago, inhabitants of the village had appealed to the Doddakadanuru Primary Health Center (PHC) to report the symptoms of the chikungunya virus, but told SahilOnline that the medical officer didn't respond to them in a proper manner. After the villagers' unsuccessful attempt to acquire medical assistance, the disease took over the entire village within one month. Because the PHC did not carefully respond to the villagers' appeal for help, the villagers have demanded action against the officers, according to The Hindu. Additionally, the people of the village mentioned that an overhead tank in the village had not been cleaned, suggesting that they were getting contaminated water. The Hindu and SahilOnline reported that when contacted on April 30, district health officer Thimmappa said Zilla Panchayat, chief executive officer MR Balakrishna held a meeting to address the situation, and sent medicines to the village. Also, he said action would be taken against the local medical officers for neglecting their duties. According to ProMed mail, chikungunya has not been laboratory-confirmed in any of the cases in Karnataka state. They also reported that chikungunya and dengue fever virus infections are not easily distinguishable, especially by the lay public, in the absence of laboratory tests. The report from SahilOnline did not mention acute arthralgia, which would suggest chikungunya viral infections, according to ProMed mail. The viral disease has been circulating in India over the past year, including in Karnataka state. Chikungunya is a viral illness transmitted to humans by infected aedes aegypti mosquitoes, causing fever, rashes and aching joints, which are similar to the symptoms of dengue fever.

Source:

· http://www.sahilonline.org/english/news.php?catID=statenews&nid=7935

· http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/f?p=2400:1001:3787908552922218::NO::F2400_P10...

· http://beta.thehindu.com/news/states/karnataka/article419579.ece

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