Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Chikungunya may be on its way to the UK

At first sight I thought that this might be some new type of balti that I'd not heard of before, but I was intrigued by why it was associated with climate change.

This report from This Is London tells of the spread of Chikungunya, a horrible crippling muscle disease that has already taken a foothold in southern Europe, and could well reach the UK over the next couple of decades. There were 200 cases in northern Italy this year and one unfortunate soul died as a result. The disease is spread by the Tiger Mosquito, itself a recent and unwanted immigrant to Europe, having been known to be in Italy for only the last 15 years.

Beware, if rising sea levels and food shortages don't get you, Chikungunya just might!

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