Hundreds in Marshalls have chikungunya

7:52 pm on 22 June 2015

A resident in the Marshall Islands says every family he knows has had a member infected with the chikungunya virus.

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Photo: supplied

The numbers of confirmed and suspected cases of chikungunya continue to skyrocket in the Marshall Islands, with the health ministry reporting 800 people affected.

The first known outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus in the country was in February and has now spread to many of the remote outer islands.

Majuro has reported the most cases, with 520 confirmed or suspected of chikungunya infection.

Jack Niedenthal, from the Bikini Council in Majuro, has recently contracted it.

"Every family I know, somebody's had it. You know, my friend's wife had it but he didn't get it. You hear about things like that all the time and it's very debilitating. It's a very hard disease to deal with. Very, very painful."

Jack Niedenthal.

A mosquito spraying campaign has been underway since last month.