Containing Chikungunya virus outbreak in Congo [Morning Call]

Now in its fifth month since outbreak in Congo, Chikungunya virus- a virus spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito that causes fever and joint pain- is yet to be contained.

By April, 8,000 cases had been confirmed and now in Pointe Noire, the epicenter of the viral infection, 20 cases are treated every week.

According to the WHO, ‘the scale of this Chikungunya virus outbreak has likely been underestimated given the limited detection capacity of the surveillance system in the Republic of the Congo’.