Orissa has sent blood samples of at least 24 people, suspected to be suffering from chikungunya, a viral fever caused by mosquitoes, to the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

"We have collected blood samples from 10 people in the coastal district of Cuttack in the last fortnight. We also collected blood samples from four people in Ganjam and 10 from Gajapati in the past two months," M.N. Debata, the state's joint director of health told IANS Tuesday.

We have not yet received any report, he said.