CHIKUNGUNYA 2 LAST

In Delhi, however, municipal corporations have only In Delhi, however, municipal corporations have onlyreported 20 cases of chikungunya till August 20. The states generally affected by chikungunya are AndhraPradesh, Karnataka, Maharasthra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,Gujarat and Kerala, according to NVBDCP. Another reason behind the spike in cases in Delhi andother regions could be "reduction in extrinsic incubationperiod", NVBDCP Director Dhariwal said. Extrinsic incubation period refers to the time requiredfor the development of a disease agent in a vector, from thetime of uptake of the agent to the time when the vector isinfective. "So, it is possible this period has got reduced and somore cases have suddenly come up," he said. Regional Adviser, World Health Organisation South EastRegional Office (WHO-SEARO) Jamsheed Mohammed says, "Spike inchikungunya cases have occurred not just in Delhi but otherparts of the country." "But, we are doing the needful to combat vector-bornediseases, so we prepare guidelines and also build nationalcapacity to lead a programme," he said. As per NVBDCP, chikungunya occurs in Africa, India andsouth east Asia and is primarily found in urban or peri-urbanareas. In India, a major epidemic of chikungunya fever wasreported in 1963 (Calcutta), 1965 (Pondicherry and Madras inTamil Nadu, Rajahmundry, Vishakapatnam and Kakinada in AndhraPradesh; Sagar in Madhya Pradesh; and Nagpur in Maharashtra)and in 1973 in Barsi in Maharashtra. Thereafter, sporadiccases also continued to be recorded, especially in Maharashtraduring 1983 and 2000, it said. According to NVBDCP, 27,553 clinically-suspected cases ofchikunguna were reported last year and 16,049 suspected casesin 2014. PTI KND AAR SKAAR