Now, there is second suspect

Even as a new team of virologists from the National Institute of Virology NIV was set to leave for the state on Saturday to collect samples of a 8220;new mysterious fever8221;, scientists from Madurai strongly suspect another vector, Aedes albopictus, is breeding in latex collecting cups at rubber plantations and causing the viral to spread.

Any mosquito which is present in great density plays a role in the transmission of any disease. Working on this principle, the scientists are now edging closer to the results whether Aedes albopictus is the new disease causing vector.

Dr B K Tyagi, Director of the Centre for Research in Medical Entomology at Madurai, was sent to Kerala as part of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme NVBDCP to study the epidemiology of the disease. Tyagi told The Indian Express they were tracking this second mosquito which could be involved in the transmission of chikungunya.

Chikungunya is a relatively rare form of viral fever caused by an alphavirus that is spread by mosquito bites from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Recent research by the Pasteur Institute in Paris claims the virus has suffered a mutation that enables it to be transmitted by Aedes albopictus.