Sarawak News November 05, 2009 20:22 PM Sarawak Monitors Chikungunya KUCHING, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- Sarawak will monitor closely the increasing number of Chikungunya cases in the state, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan said Thursday. Attributing the spread of the disease to infected air travellers, he said the disease was unheard of in Sarawak last year. However, it was not that serious as no death had been reported, he told reporters here. Chikungunya, transmitted to human by the virus-carrying Aedes mosquito, causes an illness with symptoms similar to dengue fever. The fever lasts only two to five days and is followed by prolonged pain of the joints that can last for weeks or months. Dr Chan, who is also the State Disaster Relief Committee chairman, said Chikungunya cases were detected in a few longhouses in Saratok district last week. Mass fogging would be conducted to eradicate the breeding grounds of mosquitoes in housing areas and longhouses, he added. On Wednesday, the Pantai Damai assemblyman Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi disclosed that two villages in his constituency -- Kampung Salah and Kampung Santubong -- had been affected by Chikungunya for the last three months. -- BERNAMA