Kassala governor: ‘Seven die of chikungunya’

Governor Adam Jamaa of Kasala state has acknowledged the death of seven people from chikungunya fever. More than 6,000 people have been infected in the recently confirmed outbreak of the virus.

Jamaa made his statements to the press. On Monday the emergency department at the federal Ministry of Health already reported that there are 6,250 cases of chikungunya in Sudan’s northeastern state.

Sources in the health sector, however, said that the total number of infected people far exceeds the number mentioned by the governor. A source reported this week that chikungunya, popularly known as kankasha, “has widely spread in the eastern side of Kassala in the past two days”.

The infection has affected entire families and earlier this week medical workers said that health centres and clinics in the state “are overcrowded”.

Chikungunya is a virus transmitted by the same kinds of mosquitoes that spread dengue and Zika virus. It is characterised by an abrupt onset of fever, frequently accompanied by joint pain. There is no specific antiviral drug treatment for chikungunya.

Residents have complained of a terrible environmental degradation, which has allowed for the spread of water ponds – the breeding grounds of mosquitoes that transmit the disease.