LIBREVILLE, May 13 (Reuters) - An outbreak of the mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus has hit the central African country of Gabon, and 5,000 suspected cases had been reported so far, the government said on Sunday.

The illness had been detected over the last month in patients in the capital Libreville and the southern suburb of Owendo on the Gabon Estuary, Minister of State for Health Paulette Missambo said in a statement published by state media. Last year, Indian Ocean islands on the other side of the African continent, particularly La Reunion, reported outbreaks of the disease.

First identified in Tanzania in 1952, it causes high fever, headache, nausea, vomiting and muscle and joint pain.

The Gabonese government said samples from patients sent for testing in France had confirmed the Chikungunya virus. Officials said fumigation and disinfection programmes would be carried out in affected neighbourhoods.

Gabon's capital Libreville and other cities grew rapidly during the country's oil boom, but lack of planned urbanisation and basic sanitation mean that garbage often goes uncollected and pools of stagnant water form during the rainy season.

This causes ideal conditions for the breeding of mosquitoes which carry Chikungunya and other diseases like malaria.

French and American authorities have been working on a vaccine that protects against the virus.

The incubation period for the illness can be 2-12 days. Acute fever can last a couple of weeks. Some patients report debilitating joint pain which can continue for weeks or months.

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