The number of cases of filariasis, a disease thought to have been eradicated from the Maldives, has climbed to 25 with six more cases detected in a screening program launched after a group of migrant workers in Kulhudhuffushi tested positive.

Filaria has been found in 25 people in the screening carried out so far, Kulhudhuffushi Regional Hospital media official Ahmed Moosa told Adhadhu today. The number of cases stood at 19 as of last Monday.

Filaria was detected among migrant workers residing in Kulhudhuffushi during a screening program conducted to mark World AIDS Day.

Filariasis is a disease transmitted by mosquitoes. In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) certified Maldives as having eradicated the disease, which declared that filaria either affected less than one percent of the population or no longer posed a threat to public health.

The last case of filaria was reported in 2004 in Laamu atoll Fonadhoo. The residents were given medicine for five years. Since 2008, no cases have been reported.

Filariasis is a mosquito-borne, contagious disease.