Chikungunya Death Toll In Reunion Hits 148 - Over 200,000 Infected

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A disabling mosquito-borne disease that has hit the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion has claimed 148 lives, and almost a third of the population has been affected, health officials said on Friday.

The toll of 148 amounted to people whose death was directly or indirectly attributable to the disease, known as chikungunya, the national health monitoring institute said on Friday.

A total of 212,000 people have fallen sick with the disease in the course of the epidemic, it said. Reunion has a population of 777,000. The French government has committed emergency health and economic aid worth over 90 million euros (110 million dollars) to help Reunion fight the scourge, but it has been criticised for failing to react in time as the epidemic started to unfold in early 2005.

Chikungunya, a disease believed to have originated in Africa, derives from a Swahili word meaning "that which bends up" because of its arthritic-type symptoms that leave victims stooped. The disease is generally non-fatal and patients eventually recover, although much about it remains unclear.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Death_Toll_Hits_150_In_French_Island_Epidemic.html