A senior Chinese official has visited the epicentre of the country’s Chikungunya fever outbreak, as the number of cases of the mosquito-borne virus nears 5,000.
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Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Guozhong visited the southern city of Foshan in Guangdong province, urging the city to “strictly implement port health quarantine measures”, according to state news agency Xinhua on Friday.
During his trip to Guangdong, Liu told authorities to “improve prevention and control measures”, “effectively eliminate mosquitoes” and “cut off epidemic spread channels”.
Foshan, a manufacturing hub of 10 million residents, accounted for 2,882 cases, or about 60 per cent of 4,824 reported cases in Guangdong as of July 26. There have been no fatalities.
Outside Guangdong, Macau has also reported two cases, both of whom had previously travelled to Foshan. Hong Kong has not reported any cases since the outbreak.
This is China’s worst outbreak of the disease in decades, and Foshan authorities issued notices earlier this week offering nucleic acid PCR tests in several neighbourhoods.
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