As the Chikungunya fever outbreak has continued to spread in Guangdong province, Chinese authorities have adopted similar control measures to how they handled the COVID-19 pandemic, triggering public fear of a return of city wide lockdowns.
As of July 31, the total number of officially confirmed cases of Chikungunya fever reported in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, reached more than 6,000, according to Chinese state media. The first case was reported on July 8. On Aug. 1, Foshan authorities reported 333 newly confirmed cases in one day.
Chikungunya fever is a viral disease mainly transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. Its symptoms are similar to dengue fever. Patients usually experience fever, severe joint pain, muscle pain, headache, fatigue, and rash.
There is no specific antiviral treatment for Chikungunya. Deaths from the disease are rare but do occur, especially among vulnerable populations such as those with underlying health conditions.
Meanwhile, confirmed cases have also been reported in more than 10 cities in Guangdong Province, according to Guangdong Provincial Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On July 31, the Department of Medical Emergency Response of the Chinese regime’s National Health Commission issued an urgent nationwide notice for diagnosis and treatment plans for the Chikungunya fever outbreak.
In the notice, the central authorities said there is currently no Chikungunya virus vaccine available in China. They said that “quarantine measures must be taken” for suspected and confirmed cases.
Meanwhile, local authorities in Foshan City, which is hardest-hit by Chikungunya fever, initiated a Level III public health emergency response on July 29.
In China, the official response levels are divided into four levels: Level I (extremely serious), Level II (serious), Level III (major), and Level IV (general).
Residents in Foshan City told local media that they had received an official notice that Chikungunya virus PCR screening would be conducted as part of a three day mass testing effort from July 29 to 31.
On July 30, the Shabian Village Residents Committee of Lecong Town in Shunde district, Foshan, told local media that the whole town had received notice of mass PCR screening for the Chikungunya virus for July 29 to July 31.
Spreading Outside Guangdong
The Chikungunya outbreak had spread to Macau and Beijing a few days earlier, according to local health authorities.On July 29, health authorities in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province in southeast China, posted an alert on their WeChat public account about Chikungunya fever and dengue fever, requiring that “people returning from Foshan must monitor their health for 14 days at home.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was monitoring the Chikungunya fever situation in China.
“CDC is aware of the reported chikungunya outbreak in Guangdong Province in China and is currently assessing the size and extent of the outbreak,” a CDC spokesperson told Bloomberg News. The agency said it is considering a travel warning to China.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has raised concerns of another Chikungunya virus epidemic. The WHO said it was noticing the exact same early warning signs as were seen before a major outbreak two decades ago that infected more than 5 million people. That epidemic started in Kenya and spread to countries primarily in the Indian Ocean region, and South and Southeast Asia, and later, parts of tropical and subtropical Europe and the Americas.
“We are calling for urgent action to prevent history from repeating itself. There is no particular treatment for Chikungunya, so people need to avoid mosquito bites,” Dr. Diana Rojas Alvarez, a medical officer at the WHO, told reporters on July 22.
Chikungunya fever can spread rapidly. “Based on the life habits of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, its vector, and the virus’s activity in both humans and mosquitoes, it is estimated that in a community with a high Aedes aegypti population, a single infected person could transmit the virus to over 2,400 people through mosquito bites within 30 days,” Dr. Cheng Yuan-yu, attending physician at Shang-wen Clinic in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, who specializes in infectious diseases, told The Epoch Times on Aug. 2.
If the epidemic continues to worsen, there’s a high chance that countries will issue travel warnings, Cheng said. However, “travel bans are unlikely, as this is a disease with a low mortality rate and a low severe case rate,” he said.
“Prevention measures primarily involve monitoring and tracking incoming travelers for symptoms, particularly body temperature,” he added.
Sean Lin, assistant professor in the Biomedical Science Department at Feitian College and former U.S. army microbiologist, shared a similar assessment, saying he doesn’t think travel bans will be necessary.
He said “there is no need” for the Chinese regime to impose quarantines “because the virus isn’t transmitted from person to person but rather through mosquitoes.”
“Local authorities can generally control the epidemic by implementing mosquito control campaigns and maintaining good hygiene,” Lin told The Epoch Times on Aug. 2.
This outbreak in China is likely “related to changes in the local mosquito population and their adaptability to the virus,” Lin said, noting that “the Chinese government hasn’t been able to produce a timely research report on this.”
CCP’s Mandatory Measures Sparking Fear
Many Chinese citizens have been sharing their experiences on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Chikungunya control measures on social media. Some fear that the draconian lockdown measures that the CCP employed during the three-year COVID-19 pandemic may come back.A Foshan resident infected with Chikungunya virus posted a video on social media claiming they were not being allowed to leave after having a blood test at Longjiang Hospital in Shunde.
Another resident said in a video post that he has been in forced quarantine in a hospital for four days, and was being monitored by medical staff 24 hours a day. The video showed security guards at the quarantine site.
Others commented on social media about Foshan’s mass testing and “long lines,” reminiscent of the long testing lines for COVID-19 during the pandemic.
“Do we need to be quarantined? Will they lock down the city?” another post read. “No way! Why do we have to wear masks every day again?” another comment read.
On July 29, CCP officials held a national video and telephone conference in Beijing on Chikungunya fever prevention and control, including launching a mosquito eradication campaign. A video on social media showed the Foshan government deploying a large number of armed police officers to “exterminate mosquitoes.”
A Chinese citizen commented on the video, “The armed police has even been deployed. This feels a bit serious.”
Another comment read, ”Are they planning to lock down Foshan and Shunde?”
