Fifth Chikungunya fever reported in less than a week

Hasnita A Majid & May Wong, Channel NewsAsia 5 Aug 08;

SINGAPORE: Another case of Chikungunya fever was reported in Singapore on Tuesday.

Channel NewsAsia understands a man caught the virus while he was in Malaysia recently.

This brings the total number of Chikungunya cases to five in less than a week.

The first case reported on July 31 involved a 60-year-old woman, while another three cases involving two foreign workers and a local delivery driver was reported on August 2.

In the latest case, the middle-aged man complained of fever and chills on July 31, a few days after he came back from Tangkak, Segamat, where he had gone to visit his family.

He was admitted to Mount Alvernia Hospital where he was diagnosed with the Chikungunya virus.

The man told Channel NewsAsia that besides himself, five other family members - all Malaysians - have also caught the virus. His family received treatment in Malaysia.

An acute viral disease, Chikungunya is transmitted by bites from infected Aedes mosquitoes.

- CNA/yb