Does eating chicken cause Chikungunya?
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Updated: I guess I should have looked up the Wikipedia first for chikungunya.
Apparently, several recenty-moved-in-from-villages type people in Mumbai (a.k.a Bombay) have been admitting themselves into hospitals claiming that they have contracted the dreaded viral disease called chikungunya because they have been eating chicken! Of course, this is wrong. This disease is transmitted via a daytime mosquito called Aedes Agypti. The key is to prevent getting bitten by daytime mosquitoes. The term chikun (sounds like chicken) in chikungunya might cause people to confuse this disease with bird flu (or should it be chicken flu?). Bird flu is of course spread by some birds. So the question is – why is it called chikungunya? Apparently, in 1953, this disease was first reported in Tanzania. The term having originated in the Makonde language that is spoken in southern tanzania and northern mozambique. In Makonde the term means “that which folds up” referring to the crippling of the joints which is one of the key symptoms of this disease. <Via Mid Day Mumbai Nov 15, 2006 edition – page A03>
