NEW DELHI: The Capital recorded its first confirmed case of vector-borne disease chikungunya at Paharganj on Tuesday.

The State Health Department has asked all its hospitals to be on alert and immediately report any cases of chikungunya. The Department is not willing to take any chances and has already put in place measures to check the spread of the disease.

"We have one confirmed case in the city. A patient who had come to the outpatient department of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital early this week has tested positive. The patient had come with high fever. We are trying to trace this person who, according to the hospital records, is from Paharganj. The blood sample had been sent to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) and it has tested positive for chikungunya," said Delhi Health Minister Yoganand Shastri.

He said the department was setting up a monitoring committee consisting of members from the NICD, district health officials and non-Governmental organisations and residents' welfare associations, who would assist the Government in spreading awareness of the need to prevent breeding of mosquitoes.

Chikungunya is a form of viral fever spread by aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The symptoms include high fever, headache and joint pain.

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