Taipei: An outbreak of the chikungunya virus in China has prompted authorities to take preventive measures from mosquito nets and clouds of disinfectant, threatening fines for people who fail to disperse standing water and even deploying drones to hunt down insect breeding grounds.
More than 7,000 cases of the disease have been reported as of Wednesday, focused largely on the manufacturing hub of Foshan near Hong Kong, which has reported only one case.
Numbers of new cases appear to be dropping slowly, according to authorities.
Chikungunya is spread by mosquitoes and causes fever and joint pain, similar to dengue fever, with the young, older people and those with pre-existing medical conditions most at risk.