Minister denies reports of deaths due to Chikungunya

Chennai, Jun 25 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Health Minister K K S S R Ramachandran today denied that there were any deaths due to Chikungunya in the state.

When asked about reports that the disease had claimed 28 lives in the state, the Minister, dismissing the reports as false, said ''not a single death had occured in the state, because of the disease.'' ''If the reports of the deaths were true, there would have been huge hue and cry in the state,'' he said and asserted that the situation was very much under control.

Mr Ramachandran said the disease, spread by mosquitoes, had entered the state from the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. People who visited these states spread the disease to others after coming back to Tamil Nadu, he said.

The disease had already hit more than ten districts in the state, but there was no cause for any alarm. The government had taken all measures to check the spread of the disease.

Fogging operations have been launched and rapid action teams were doing round the clock service. People infected by the disease were treated in Government hospitals, the minister added.

UNI WS AJ VD PC1720