Chikungunya

Officials in Depok, West Java, have urged residents to keep their neighborhoods clean after 17 residents of Ratujaya subdistrict became infected with the chikungunya virus.
“We urge residents to conduct mosquito nest-eradication programs to cut the chain of the chikungunya virus spread,” Depok Health Agency secretary Rani said on Friday as reported by kompas.com.
She said prevention efforts for chikungunya were similar to dengue fever, using the burying-draining-covering method commonly known as “3M” to remove any standing water that mosquitoes could lay eggs in.
Although chikungunya is a different virus from dengue, the two mosquito-borne viral diseases are both caused by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitos. The diseases have different symptoms.
In order to raise awareness, the health agency has boosted promotion of chikungunya virus-prevention efforts, Rani said.
She added that the 3M method needed to be carried out continuously, not only during the rainy season, to prevent mosquitos breeding. (ami)