Madagascar: chikungunya

[DB]

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/104690.asp

Madagascar hit by crippling disease from Reunion

Weekend ? March 5, 2006

Madagascan health officials said the island had recorded its first cases of a disabling mosquito-borne disease that has claimed 93 lives on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion.

"There have been sporadic cases of chikungunya," said Health Minister Jean-Louis Robinson, without providing precise figures.

Chikungunya, a disease believed to have originated in Africa, derives from a Swahili word meaning "that which bends up" because of its arthritic-type symptoms that leave victims stooped.

Chikungunya outbreaks have sparked deep concerns in the French overseas territory of Reunion, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of Madagascar, where 186,000 out of the island's population of 777,000 have fallen sick.

The disease is generally non-fatal and patients eventually recover, but it can leave victims vulnerable to other life-threatening diseases. ? AFP

[DB]

Madagascar: LOTS OF DEATHS

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/106658.asp
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=640 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="3%"></TD><TD>Fever grips Madagascar as doctors uncertain of cause

Wednesday ? March 15, 2006

Since early January, nearly all the residents of Madagascar's eastern port town of Toamasina have been struck by a fever, a symptom doctors have failed to attribute with certainty to either disease currently affecting the coastal population.

The medics suspect dengue fever or a crippling mosquito-borne disease called chikungunya, but they cannot exactly tell the cause as both illnesses have near identical symptoms, are spread by the same vector and have no known cure nor vaccine.

With the current rainy season, pools of stagnant water and leafy grass provide suitable breeding conditions for mosquitoes. Residents here also call it the "season of malaria."

"In the last three months, between 80 and 90 percent of Toamasina residents have had a fever," said Clarette Dinh-Van, a general physician operating a private clinic in Toamasina, home to some 200,000 people and Madagascar's largest port.

Early this month, health officials said the island had recorded its first cases of chikungunya, locally abreviated as "chik" and which is attributed to the deaths of some 93 people in the French overseas territory of Reunion.

They also announced cases of dengue fever, a disease characterised by a sudden high fever, rash, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, and muscle and joint pain.

"Chik or dengue, we truly do not differentiate," said Sahondra Randriamamahatra, head doctor of Ankihirihy dispensary in Toamisina's slum city.

"The symptoms are very identical and we treat them the same way," he added.

Randriamamahatra said 288 cases of fever were reported in January, 1,159 last month and already 456 in the first week of March.

The vast Indian Ocean island lacks medical facilities to carry out proper diagnosis. Since last month about 20 blood samples were taken to France for analysis.

At the packed dispensary, two girls make their way through the crowd of patients, their bodies speckled with rashes and complain of joint pains before seeing the doctor.

"According to what I know, the symptoms of chik is swelling of joints. These two girls do not have swellings. To me it is dengue," Randriamamahatra said as he administered the diagnosis.

The approximate diagnosis is widespread and is blamed for many deaths due to the fever.


"In the last weeks, I spend days and nights in the hospital because my whole familiy has been affected," said Arnaud Mony, a district head in Toamasina.

"Every day, bodies are removed from the hospital. It was more intense in February," he added, referring to the town's biggest hospital.

Although authorities have engaged in a clean-up exercise to drain canals and clear garbage in order to destroy mosquito breeding grounds, just about 10 of Toamasina's 138 districts have been involved in the operation.

"Everytime it rains, mosquito breeding grounds emerge and what we are doing will not stop the virus," lamented Jean-Baptiste Beresaka, an official with the town's clean-up team. ? AFP








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[DB]

Madagascar: Many deaths from Mystery Fever

Reports of many deaths in Madagascar due to fever.

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2379

[DB]

Re: Madagascar: LOTS OF DEATHS

80-90% of 200,000 people would be 160,000 - 180,000 people.

So from that statement it looks like there are somewhere between 160,000 and 180,000 cases in one town in Madagascar.

[DB]

Re: Madagascar: LOTS OF DEATHS

I guess we know where La Reunion got their prediction of 80% potentially becoming infected.

Madagascar.

[DB]

Re: Madagascar: LOTS OF DEATHS

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 VALIGN="top"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=396><!-- Content Header --><!-- START: print_article --><TABLE class=artUtilsTop cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/news...e2480a49fb.htm

MADAGASCAR: Mosquito-borne fevers rampant in biggest port
15 Mar 2006 16:18:55 GMT

Source: IRIN
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>JOHANNESBURG, 15 March (IRIN) - Madagascar is used to fighting mosquitoes, but not the kind responsible for the fever outbreak that is crippling the eastern port town of Toamasina, where experts warn that conventional vector control will not be enough.
Since the beginning of this year nearly all Toamasina's 200,000 residents have reportedly come down with a fever as a result of either dengue or chikungunya fever. Both diseases are spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
"We are sending a joint World Health Organisation (WHO) and Ministry of Health team there [Toamasina] on Sunday to better understand the behaviour of the mosquito. It is a different mosquito to the one transmitting malaria, which they are used to," the WHO country representative, Dr Leonard Tapsoba, told IRIN.
Known locally as 'malaria season', the rainy season with its pools of stagnant water means breeding conditions for mosquitoes are optimal.
The symptoms and treatment of chikungunya and dengue fever are very similar, making it difficult for health practitioners to distinguish between the two, Tapsoba said. "There is only symptomatic treatment, so the only response is vector control. They [officials] have started fumigation and cleaning, but we also need to better understand the mosquito."
According to Tabsoba, the malaria mosquito breeds and is active at night and indoors, while "the dengue mosquito is active during the day and outdoors, so traditional measures like impregnated [insecticide-treated] bed nets and normal measures are not enough."
An awareness campaign has been launched, urging the population to participate in a mass clean-up drive. "This is a fight by the community - they have to remove any potential water reservoir that the mosquito can use as a breeding ground - but because people have jobs, and it breeds during the day, this is very difficult," he said.
Agence France-Presse quoted Dr Clarette Dinh-Van, a general physician operating a private clinic in Toamasina, as saying, "In the last three months, between 80 and 90 percent of Toamasina residents have had a fever."
Health officials are still uncertain as to whether the outbreak can be attributed to a mosquito-borne disease called chikungunya, Swahili for 'that which bends up', which has been spreading across the Indian Ocean islands, or dengue, "because surveillance is picking up all types of fever and Madagascar does not have the specific viral lab capacity to identify the cause," Tapsoba noted.
Tapsobo said blood samples have been sent to France for testing and dengue has been confirmed. One case of chikungunya was also registered.
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[ukcz]

Re: Madagascar: LOTS OF DEATHS

Denge or Chik? Chik in La Reunion, but denge in Madagascar? One set of symptoms in an extraordinary event (epidemic) is the same disease. You may call them what you like (to fit the curcumstances), but even a blind man can see that they are the same beast. A little more candor required methinks.