The concern about another pandemic has surged as China has begun enforcing quarantine measures due to a rise in viral diseases transmitted by mosquitoes.
Reports indicate there are around 7,000 cases of Chikungunya in Foshan, a city in southern China. While this disease typically isn’t deadly, it can cause significant pain.
Officials have launched a “patriotic public health campaign” aimed at identifying and eliminating mosquito breeding grounds in the city. Strategies include using drones and introducing fish that eat mosquitoes in local ponds, as well as utilizing “elephant mosquitoes” that specifically target the species that carry Chikungunya.
People in Foshan have been urged to prevent standing water, an ideal breeding ground for these mosquitoes. Some locals have noted aggressive policing, with reports of officers enforcing regulations to eliminate stagnant water. In the Gishen district, the Neighborhood Commission even cut power to several households due to non-compliance.
Concerns are growing in the community, and complaints about what some describe as excessive enforcement have surfaced on the app Renote.
The Chikungunya virus is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is also known to carry dengue fever. These mosquitoes often breed in very small amounts of water, such as those found in bottle caps.
So far, the Chinese government hasn’t introduced its most stringent quarantine measures, but the fear is that they could be on the horizon.
Yang Zong Hwan, a global health expert at the Council of Foreign Relations, remarked, “We are essentially amplifying the appearance of a zero-COVID strategy through a zero-tolerance approach, along with mass mobilization, surveillance, and testing.”
Recently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Level 2 travel advisory for Guangdong province. Although vaccines are available for Chikungunya in the U.S., they are not currently accessible in China.
Chikungunya was first identified in the 1950s in southern Tanzania, and interestingly, the word itself translates from the Kimakonde language to “that which bends up,” indicative of the severe joint pain it often causes.
