The chikungunya virus has rapidly spread to about 8,000 patients in just four weeks, mainly across China's Guangdong province to the south, with the city of Foshan hit the hardest, according to the New York Times.
But Hong Kong's first case was confirmed Monday, and the increasingly worrisome situation is stoking fears of a potential pandemic.
Infected residents are being sent to "quarantine wards" in hospitals where they're placed in beds covered by mosquito nets. They have to then remain there for a week, unless they test negative beforehand.
Nearby cities at one point also forced people entering from Foshan to quarantine themselves for 14 days but have since lifted that order.
The drastic measures show just how jittery Chinese officials are about the potential for another major health crisis, considering chikungunya is typically not deadly and not spread between humans but is transmitted by the bites of infected Aedes mosquitoes..,<<<Read More>>>...
