TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Chinese authorities are using nets, spraying insecticide and even deploying drones to fight the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus, which has infected thousands of people.

Authorities had reported more than 7,000 cases of the virus as of Wednesday, mostly in the southern Chinese manufacturing hub of Foshan, some 170 kilometers (105 miles) from Hong Kong. The number of new cases appears to be dropping slowly, according to authorities.

It appears to be the largest chikungunya outbreak ever documented in China, according to Cesar Lopez-Camacho of the University of Oxford. The virus is transmitted by infected mosquitoes and can cause fever and joint pain.

“What makes this event notable is that chikungunya has never been established in mainland China before,” Lopez-Camach

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