Mosquito-borne chikungunya kills six in La Reunion

A disabling mosquito-borne disease called chikungunya has killed six people in the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion but the outbreak appears to be easing, authorities said on Wednesday.

The island located east of Madagascar has been hit by the epidemic since last August, with one in nine people believed to be affected, according to the local authorities.

France's health agency said six people died since the start of the year, adding that all the victims were people aged "over 70 with comorbidities".

Sante Publique France also said the epidemic was beginning to ease, with around 4,900 cases in the first week of April.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 33,000 cases have been confirmed, but the actual number is believed to be much higher, as many patients do not get tested.

More than 220 people were hospitalised for more than 24 hours. A quarter of the patients were under six months old, and 46 percent were over 65 years old, according to the health agency.

Nearly 900,000 people live on the island.

The top local health official, Gerard Cottelon, said that more than 100,000 residents of the island had been affected by the virus.

There is no specific treatment for the disease, but a vaccination campaign was launched this spring.

The name "chikungunya" derives from a word in the Kimakonde language of southern Tanzania, meaning "to become contorted".

It describes the stooped appearance of sufferers with joint pain, according to the World Health Organisation.

Before the current outbreak, no cases of chikungunya had been reported in Reunion since 2010.

In 2005 and 2006, a chikungunya outbreak in La Reunion affected nearly 40 percent of the island's population, killing 225 people.