Health Ministers of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are to meet in Bangalore next month to discuss ways to stop the rapid spread of Chikungunya.
Health Ministers of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are to meet in Bangalore next month to discuss ways to stop the rapid spread of Chikungunya. The disease has ravaged the four states and has infected lakhs of people in the biggest occurrence after it came to India through Kolkata in 1954-55.
Andhra Pradesh Health Minister K. Rosaiah said Madhya Pradesh is also likely to send in a representative at the meeting. Chikungunya was confined to Kadapa, Kurnool, Nalgonda and Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh after starting in December 2005. But it spread rapidly to the surrounding areas and currently chikungunya has been reported in 1,408 villages.Chikungunya causes fever, severe joint pains and swelling of legs and causes a lot of problems to infected people. Around four lakh cases are reported from Karnataka.
Teams from the Central Health Ministry and Directorate of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme have visited the state, but there is no sign of controlling the disease.
