Maureen Wijngaarde-van Dijk, chairperson of a workgroup that is tasked with tackling the chikungunya outbreak, recently announced that there are currently about 2,000 confirmed cases of chikungunya. “It all started with 4 confirmed cases on January 14th. Nearly 3 months have gone by and now the number of confirmed cases has risen to 2,000,” said Wijngaarde-van Dijk who added that the recent rainfalls makes it that much more difficult to fight the vital disease that is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes that carry the chikungunya virus. “These rainfalls are very inconvenient,” said Wijngaarde-van Dijk who added that even a little rain leaves behind water at various loxations. “That little bit of water is all that the Aedes aegypti mosquito needs to lay eggs.” Chikungunya causes fever and severe joint pain, which is often debilitating and may be prolonged; other symptoms include joint swelling, muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash.