By Euro Weekly News Media • Published: 11 Sep 2015 • 11:28
GANDIA’S chikungunya case was a false positive, the health authorities have confirmed, meaning there is no evidence that tiger mosquitoes are spreading the illness in the region.
On July 31 the health department had reported that a 60-year-old man who lived and worked in Gandia had suffered, and recovered from, chikungunya. Initial tests proved positive for the virus and the man had not travelled anywhere where the virus is known to appear before the incubation period. The assumption was that he had caught it at home, leading the departments to activate protocols and inform state and European authorities.
Yet a second sample was sent to the National Microbiology Centre at the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid, where test results came back negative.
This means, the department has explained, the 21 known cases of the virus in the region this year were all caught abroad.
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