How China is battling the chikungunya virus

Killer fish, "cannibal" mosquitoes and drones are just three of the tactics that China is using to fight a new virus.

After thousands of cases of the debilitating chikungunya infection were found across the southern Guangdong province, public health officials have been creative in their efforts to contain it.

'Compulsive killers'

China employed hardline tactics during the Covid-19 pandemic and this time the authorities are using similar "patriotic public health" measures like mass testing, mandatory quarantines, widespread surveillance and citywide lockdowns. But they are also using more novel methods.

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The virus is transmitted by infected mosquitoes, so China is using giant "compulsive killers", known as elephant mosquitoes, whose larvae "devour" the Aedes mosquito, which passes chikungunya to people, said The Telegraph.

A single larvae can consume a "staggering" number of mosquito larvae, up to several thousand, according to a paper published last year in the Journal of Tropical Medicine, and their "compulsive killing" and "predatory prowess" extend beyond "direct consumption" – after killing the mosquito larvae they "leave them uneaten".

Mosquitoes aren’t the only creatures being used. Researchers at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong have "deployed 5,000 larvae-eating fish, which consume the larvae that hatch in the city's lakes".

Insecticide is being widely used and Chinese state television has shown masked soldiers spraying it "around city streets, residential areas, construction sites" and other areas, said The Associated Press.

After "unusually" heavy rain and high temperatures "worsened the crisis", officials began using drones to "try to find standing water, where mosquitoes lay eggs".

Meanwhile, community workers in red vests are going "door to door" to inspect homes, said The New York Times, and, according to local social media, they're ordering residents to empty all containers of water, including water bowls for their dogs.

'Bend over'

The virus was first identified in Tanzania in 1952, and has since spread to 110 countries. It's most commonly found in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and South America.

It took its name from a Swahili dialect and translates approximately as "to bend over" – a reference to its debilitating symptoms. It is rarely fatal but it can cause fever, a rash and joint pain. It can also lead to severe illness in vulnerable groups such as newborn babies, the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions.

Another 1,387 cases of chikungunya virus were confirmed in China last week, said the Daily Mail. This took the tally to more than 10,000 cases overall, with infections reported in Taiwan and Hong Kong, Europe and the US. But last week’s figure was down on the previous seven-day tally of 2,892 cases, a sign that the outbreak could now be slowing.