KARACHI: A two-member team from Islamabad is due in Karachi today to investigate the assumed outbreak of ‘Chikungunya’, a viral disease caused by infected mosquitoes, reported in Malir and surrounding areas. Earlier, Sindh Health Department had requested Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP), Islamabad to send its experts to investigate the cases of suspected ‘Chikungunya’, after receiving complain from a healthcare facility about registering at least 60 cases of high fever and severe joint pain. These cases were reported mainly from the areas of Malir and Khokhrapar. “We have received complaints from the Sindh Government Hospital based in Malir last week, in which healthcare administration has expressed their fear that these could be the cases of Chikungunya virus,” said Dr Masood Solangi, head of provincial dengue prevention and control program while talking to Daily Times. Dr Solangi said, since the hospital doesn’t have the facility to diagnose Chickengunya, symptoms of high fever and acute joint pain might have led the doctors to believe that the patients had contracted Chickengunya, a mosquito borne virus. If detected positive, these will be the first diagnosis of Chickengunya in the country. Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. It causes fever and severe joint pain. Other symptoms include muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash. Joint pain is often debilitating and can vary in duration. The disease shares some clinical signs with dengue, and can be misdiagnosed in areas, where dengue is common. “On our request, FELTP team, led-by Dr Asif, who is specialized in outbreak investigation and response, would investigate into the possible outbreak of ‘Chikungunya’. “The team along with Sindh Health Department would visit the area and take samples to Islamabad for laboratory tests. It is expected that the result of laboratory diagnosis tests would come by Tuesday,” Dr Solangi added. “We can not confirm the presence of Chikungunya virus in the city until the disease is lab tested. Until the arrival of lab tests it remains suspected,” Solangi stated. Currently, the facility to diagnose ‘chikungunya’ in the city is available only at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), the private healthcare facility, Dr Solangi added.