The All Blacks are continuing to monitor the mosquito-borne disease in Samoa ahead of their test in Apia in July.
New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew today described the disease as high on the "risk radar" and "obviously a concern" ahead of the All Blacks' defence of their World Cup which starts in September.
"We would not be wanting to send World Cup athletes into an area where they would be at significant risk of catching something that would debilitate them prior to the World Cup," Tew said. "But we are reliant on the government and other agencies to give us the right advice and as of now there are no travel warnings for Samoa. Hopefully that will sort itself out but we'll keep a very close watch on it."
Tew said there was no cut-off point in terms of when a decision would be made to go or not go. The Auckland Regional Public Health Service has said it had seen a marked increase in the number of people returning from the Pacific Islands with dengue fever or chikungunya. Both viral illnesses are transmitted by mosquitoes and have similar symptoms. Chikungunya can see a person bedridden for more than a week, with conjunctivitis, nausea, vomiting and joint pain being the key symptoms.
Up to 4289 cases of chikungunya were reported in Samoa over the past year.
"We will be monitoring that right up until the day we leave, frankly, and it's the sort of thing that changes really quickly," Tew said. "We are doing some more research into the risk of actually contracting it. The simplest method of not putting yourself at risk is making sure you don't get bitten by a mosquito.
"It's obviously a concern. We'll keep a close watch on it, we're not going to put our guys under any undue risk."
Tew said New Zealand Rugby's operations crew investigated the Apia ground last week, with a concrete drain on the inside of the running track an issue that had to be resolved.
"There will need to be an acceptable and safe method of covering that concrete drain up before we play there. We don't think it's insurmountable and they're working on solutions as we speak."
By Patrick McKendry of NZME. News Service
