Madagascan health officials said the island had recorded its first cases of a disabling mosquito-borne disease that has claimed 93 lives on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion. "There have been sporadic cases of chikungunya," said Health Minister Jean-Louis Robinson, without providing precise figures.
Chikungunya, a disease believed to have originated in Africa, derives from a Swahili word meaning "that which bends up" because of its arthritic-type symptoms that leave victims stooped.
Chikungunya outbreaks have sparked deep concerns in the French overseas territory of Reunion, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of Madagascar, where 186,000 out of the island's population of 777,000 have fallen sick.
The disease is generally non-fatal and patients eventually recover, but it can leave victims vulnerable to other life-threatening diseases.
