AFRICA/REUNION - One out of every seven people on the French Island of Reunion infected by virus called chikungunya: 120,000 cases and 52 deaths. This epidemic has appeared in cycles since 1779

Rome (Agenzia Fides) - One out of every seven people living on the French Island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean suffers from a tropical disease known as chikungunya which has killed 52 people since the outbreak began in March last year.
The island has a population of 700,000 and 25,000 new cases are registered every week. Since it first appeared over 120,000 have been infected.
Of these almost 100,000 cases were registered in one year, 22,000 in the last week. Last year there were 396 more deaths than in 2004.
The term chikungunya, in Swahili, means “curving” or “contorting” was first used during an outbreak in Tanzania in 1952, because it causes major arthritic problems. Probably there was an outbreak of chikungunya in Indonesia in 1779. Since then the virus has been identified in outbreaks from time to time in Asia and in Africa.
Chikungunya is a viral disease, rarely lethal, which causes high fever, skin rash and problems with the joints.
(AP) (17/2/2006 Agenzia Fides; Righe:20; Parole:198)