ROME (AFP) — Italy’s health authorities said Wednesday they had recorded more than 160 cases of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus, in what one expert said could be the first outbreak outside the tropics.
“We have about 160 confirmed cases of chikungunya in the Ravenna region” in northern Italy “and about 30 in neighbouring villages”, Professor Antonio Cassone, head of infectious diseases at the National Institute for Health, told AFP.
Cassone said the outbreak was caused by a foreigner who brought it to Italy,
A report from Italy’s ANSA news agency said the person who had travelled in India visited friends in the region without realising he was infected, and mosquitos had spread it further.
Health ministry officials told their European counterparts last week there had been more than 100 cases and advised travellers to protect themselves against mosquito bites.
Professor Antoine Flahault, who coordinates French research on …
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