Chikungunya alert in Uran

Navi Mumbai: There is a chikungunya alert in the villages at Uran, Navi Mumbai, following the detection of seven positive cases at Karanja village.
    Government health officer at Uran, Dr Kiran Sonavane, informed that blood samples of seven adult patients sent to the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) had tested positive for the dreaded viral disease, which mainly spreads through mosquitoes.
    Rural health officials are now going house-to-house in Uran node to advise villagers to keep their surroundings clean, and to carry out fogging to kill mosquitoes in their areas.
    “If any person shows symptoms like high fever, headaches, and pain in the joints, we are asking them to be tested for chikungunya,’’ said an official.
    Fogging has been going on for the last four days in Uran node, and villagers along with their children are queuing up at primary health centres for a check-up.
    Villagers have also demanded a need for continuous water supply in their areas so that the risk of water contamination and insect infestation does not arise.
    vijay.singh@timesgroup.com