Some 60 residents of Tanjungsari village, Cikarang Utara subdistrict, Bekasi District, have been infected with cikungunya virus due to Aedes Agyptia mosquito bites, ANTARA reported. They felt early symptoms such as fever, joint pains, nausea, and headache, Ari Muharman, Tanjungsari village head, said here on Monday. The patients lived in slum areas with many stagnant pools, which could become mosquito breeding places. The village head has instructed local residents and health officers to clean up the area and especially eradicate the habitat of mosquitoes. Chikungunya fever is a viral disease transmitted to humans by the bite of infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a member of the genus Alphavirus, in the family Togaviridae. This virus was first detected in Tanzania in 1953, and has since been identified repeatedly in west, central and southern Africa and many parts of Asia.
