Authorities in China are using nets, insecticide and drones to fight the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus which has infected thousands of people. There were more than 7,000 cases of the virus recorded by officials as of Wednesday (August 13).
These were mostly in the southern Chinese manufacturing hub of Foshan, which is about 105 miles (170km) from Hong Kong. The number of new cases appears to be dropping slowly, according to the authorities.
It appears to be the largest chikungunya outbreak ever recorded in China, according to Cesar Lopez-Camacho from the University of Oxford.
He said: “What makes this event notable is that chikungunya has never been established in mainland China before. This suggests most of the population had no pre-existing immunity, making it easier for the virus to spread quickly.”
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