Health Ministry sets up "war rooms" to eradicate Chikungunya virus within three months

Accompanied by several senior ministry officials, Mr. Kaewparadai held a meeting with senior concerned officials tasked with controlling the virus and also handed over mosquito-repellent to them so that it could be distributed to health officials assigned to all 14 southern provinces.

A total of 24,029 Chikungunya victims have been diagnosed this year, mostly in the South, said Mr. Kaewparadai. However, no deaths were reported.

As the virus is spreading to the upper Southern region, the ministry has stepped up its campaigns to eradicate striped-mosquitoes which carry the virus, trying to eliminate it within three months.

Those with Chikungunya will have fever, swelling of joints, stiffness, muscular pain, headache, and fatigue, nausea, vomiting and rash. Chikungunya, a name from the Makonde language in Mozambique, was first identified in southeastern Africa. Its symptoms are similar to dengue but it causes fewer fatalities.

Dr. Praj Boonyawongvirot, Permanent Secretary for Public Health, said that Songkhla Hospital has been assigned to produce an herbal mosquito-repellent lotion and distribute it to households at no cost.