At least 71 killed by mosquito fever in India

At least 71 people have died over the past month from a mosquito-borne virus and 40,000 more may be infected in India’s southern state of Kerala, health officials said today.

The state is facing an outbreak of chikungunya, a viral fever transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes, said Kerala’s health minister, PK Sreemathi.

The outbreak appears to have overwhelmed local health officials, and Sreemathi said a World Health Organisation team made up of experts from India’s National Institutes of Communicable Diseases was to arrive in the state tomorrow.

“The expert heath team from WHO needs to make an on-the-spot assessment to tackle the situation,” he said from the central district of Alappuzha, the epicentre of the outbreak.

The chief medical officer of Alappuzha district, K Velayudhan, said nearly 40,000 people were showing symptoms of the disease, and that thousands had been admitted to hospital in his district alone.

“Most of them are suspected cases of chikungunya as blood samples of some of the patients have tested positive for the disease,” he said.

Sreemathi said 71 people had died from the disease in the past month.