Despite the last serious outbreak coming decades ago in 1974, Indian health officials are facing a growing problem.
The Health Ministry and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases are working on containing the fever, and a senior official tells the Delhi NewsLine, "There is a possibility that people had gone to the areas which are already hit by the disease. So far that has not been confirmed."
Indian experts and doctors from the World Health Organization (WHO) have been to Kerala, where 92 deaths are believed to be linked to the fever.
Dr. NKGanguly, Director-General of the Indian Council for Medical Research explains, "I am not ruling out the possibility that the deaths in Kerala can be attributed to chikungunya. We are investigating the matter and we will come to know only when the team submits the report."
According to NewsLine, the first cases started coming from December 2005. About 130,200 cases of the disease have been reported so far with 169 districts affected. The reports of nearly 100 "unconfirmed deaths" have raised many question marks. Ministry officials say the strain has changed - while it was the Asian strain in 1974, this outbreak has been caused by East/Central African strain.
