Guangdong chikungunya outbreak prompts vector-control measures

An outbreak of chikungunya in southern China has grown to about eight thousand cases in a matter of weeks, prompting authorities to deploy aggressive, pandemic-era measures to curb transmission. In Guangdong Province, the epicenter has been the city of Foshan, where officials have turned to door-to-door mosquito-control campaigns, mass testing, and the isolation of infected residents as they battle a virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The response reflects a tension between rapid public health action and concerns about civil liberties, as jurisdictions weigh the best way to stop a disease that is not directly contagious between people but can spread quickly through local mosquito populations.

Chikungunya is spread primarily by two species of Aedes mosquitoes. It is not transmitted from person to person, and most infections cause fever, severe joint pain, and rashes. In many cases symptoms resolve within a week or two, but a substantial minority experience long-lasting joint pain, and some patients can suffer heart or neurological complications in rare instances. There are no antivirals for chikungunya; treatment centers on rest, hydration, and pain relief. Two vaccines have...