Healthcare authorities in Guangdong province and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions have launched a joint campaign against Chikungunya fever following an outbreak of the mosquito-borne viral disease, with more than 2,600 cases having been reported in Foshan city and one in Macao.

Stricter anti-mosquito measures are being taken, with related information distributed to healthcare units and tourists, and close liaison with airlines and travel agencies stepped up.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday warned of bigger outbreaks of Chikungunya fever, saying that infections had been reported in 119 countries and territories as of December last year, and called for emergency steps to control and prevent the spread of the disease.

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The HKSAR government’s interdepartmental Pest Control Steering Committee will meet today to review the latest situation concerning mosquito proliferation and anti-mosquito work to be implemented.

Most of the Chikungunya cases recorded in Foshan as of Monday have been in the Shunde district. The central government has sent experts to supervise efforts being taken against the outbreak. Macao reported its first case on July 18 -- an imported case linked to Foshan.

Patients with Chikungunya fever generally suffer from fever and pain at the joints. Other common symptoms include muscle pain, headaches, nausea, fatigue and rashes.

Edwin Tsui Lok-kin -- controller of Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection – said on Tuesday the center’s Port Health Division has intensified inspections at boundary control points to ensure good environmental hygiene and effective enforcement of anti-mosquito measures.

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The division is conducting temperature screening for all inbound travelers.

Diana Alvarez – a WHO medical officer – said in Geneva the viral disease has put 5.6 million people worldwide at risk.

Although the mortality rate of Chikungunya fever is only about one percent, the death toll could reach thousands if there’re millions of cases.

“We’re seeing history repeating itself,” she said, noting that the early indicators of the latest outbreak have been identical to those of a major epidemic two decades ago in the Indian Ocean region that affected almost half a million people.

Contact the writer at atlasshao@chinadailyhk.com