Arrival Of Chikungunya Virus

Yard Dart · Jul 17, 2014

A Florida man may be the first person to become infected with the mosquito-borne virus chikungunya within the United States, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today (July 17).

The virus, which causes debilitating fever and severe joint pain, has been circulating in the Caribbean for the past few months, resulting in several thousands of infections. There have been cases of infection in people in the United States, but until today, all of them were reported in people who had acquired the virus during travels abroad.

"The arrival of chikungunya virus, first in the tropical Americas and now in the United States, underscores the risks posed by this and other exotic pathogens," Roger Nasci, chief of the CDC’s Arboviral Diseases Branch, said in a statement. [7 Devastating Infectious Diseases]

The CDC and Florida health officials said they are investigating how the patient contracted the virus, and are also looking out for additional, locally acquired U.S. cases.

It has been only seven months since the virus, once confined to Africa and Asia, was brought to the Western Hemisphere. It first appeared on the Caribbean island of St. Martin, likely carried there by an infected traveler. From there, the virus spread to 23 countries before arriving in the United States.

So far this year, 243 cases of infection with chikungunya have been reported in 31 states, with all patients having contracted the virus abroad. On May 30, the Puerto Rico Department of Health reported its first case of locally transmitted chikungunya.

Now, the newest reported case in Florida represents the first time that mosquitoes in the continental United States are thought to have spread the virus to a person who wasn't infected abroad.

Chikungunya virus is transmitted to people by two species of mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. These mosquitos are found in many parts of the United States, including the East Coast, parts of the southwest and the lower Midwest, according to the CDC. The mosquitoes spread chikungunya by biting someone who has the virus, then biting other people.

It is not known what course chikungunya will now take in the United States. CDC officials said they believe chikungunya will behave similarly to dengue virus, where the virus, which was imported by travelers, resulted in sporadic local transmission but did not cause widespread outbreaks. However, more chikungunya-infected travelers coming into the United States increases the likelihood that local chikungunya transmission will occur, they said.

There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat chikungunya virus. People can avoid contracting the virus by covering their skin and using mosquito repellents.

People infected with chikungunya virus often develop fever and joint pain, and may have other symptoms too, including muscle aches, headaches, joint swelling or a rash. Although most people recover in about a week, and infection with chikungunya virus has rarely been fatal, some people may experience joint pain that lasts months or even years, according to the World Health Organization.
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WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — Health officials are reporting the first domestically-acquired infections in the United States of a mosquito-borne virus that has spread rapidly through the Caribbean.

Florida health officials said it happened in two cases. In both, they said, a person infected with the virus after visiting the Caribbean was then bitten again by an uninfected mosquito in Florida, which then transmitted the illness further.

Health officials urged residents to prevent mosquito bites, but said there was no cause for alarm.

"There is no broad risk to the health of the general public," said Dr. Celeste Philip, a public health official with the Department of Health.

Federal officials noted it's an unfortunate milestone in the spread of a painful infectious disease that has raced across the Caribbean this year and is apparently now taking root in the United States.

"The arrival of chikungunya virus, first in the tropical Americas and now in the United States, underscores the risks posed by this and other exotic pathogens," said Roger Nasci of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a prepared statement.

Chikungunya virus is rarely fatal. Infected people typically suffer fever, severe joint pain and swelling, muscle aches, headaches, or rash. Patients usually recover in about a week, although some people suffer long-term joint pain. There is no vaccine and no specific treatment for it.

This virus is not spread person to person, but rather by the bite of certain mosquitoes. That's why health officials believe the virus is spreading here — the two cases had not recently left the country.

The infected Floridians were described as a 41-year-old woman in Miami-Dade County who began experiencing symptoms on June 10, and a 50-year-old man in Palm Beach County, who first noticed symptoms July 1.

Philip said both are doing well.

State epidemiologist Anna Likos said in order for the virus to be transmitted from an infected person to an uninfected mosquito, they must be bitten within the first week of illness.

More than 230 chikungunya cases have been reported in Americans this year, but all the others were travelers believed to have been infected elsewhere.

Now that chikungunya is in the United States, CDC officials think it will behave like dengue virus, with imported cases causing occasional local transmissions but not widespread outbreaks.
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2 cases of mosquito virus contracted in US - Yahoo News

An interesting virus to watch......does not sound fun at all and I suspect those that have compromised systems will be in danger.

Yard Dart · Jul 19, 2014

Scientists knew it was coming, and now it's here: The first U.S. cases of chikungunya, a virus carried by mosquitoes that can cause fever and joint pain, have surfaced in a Florida man and woman who have not traveled to any of the foreign countries where the disease is common, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The two cases indicate that the virus may begin to pop up more frequently in the region.

Chikungunya has historically been limited to countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans. But it made its way to the Western Hemisphere last December, when Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands reported 121 and two cases, respectively, of the locally acquired virus. And while cases have certainly appeared in people in the U.S. before, those have always been travel-related instances, CDC arboviral disease chief Roger Nasci told Yahoo Health. These new cases indicate that a local mosquito bit someone who had carried the virus from another country; then said mosquito bit another person, spreading the disease locally.

Two species of mosquitoes spread the virus — Aedes aegypti (the same critter to blame for spreading dengue fever) and Aedes albopictus, both of which are found in the southeastern U.S. and parts of the Southwest. A. albopictus also resides farther up the East Coast through the Mid-Atlantic States, as well as in the lower Midwest region. The best way to avoid chikungunya, Nasci stressed, is to avoid mosquito bites by wearing repellent and long sleeves and making sure that window screens are in good condition. In this case, though, staying inside at dusk won't help much, as these particular types of mosquitoes feed during the day.

CDC officials expect that chikungunya will behave like dengue in the United States, where imported cases have resulted in sporadic local transmissions without triggering widespread outbreaks. None of the more than 200 imported chikungunya cases between 2006 and 2013 have triggered a local outbreak.

Chikungunya joins another scary-sounding disease enjoying the limelight this week: babesiosis, a malaria-like illness caused by microscopic parasites that infect red blood cells and are spread by certain ticks. Six cases were reported in New Jersey on Thursday, with five other suspected cases being investigated, according to the Ocean County Health Department. Though not everyone who gets infected develops symptoms, babesiosis can cause fever, chills, body aches, and nausea; it can also lead to complications that include hemolytic anemia, unstable blood pressure, and even death — particularly for at-risk patients such as those who are elderly or living with compromised immune systems.

The chikungunya-babesiosis news is not exactly the most welcome for those who are already anxious about mosquitoes and ticks as they try to avoid illnesses such as West Nile virus and Lyme disease. Still, notes Nasci, "there's absolutely no reason to panic. That's always the challenge of getting a story out with information about a new disease."
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Say Hello to the Latest Mosquito-Borne Virus: Chikungunya

VHestin · Jul 20, 2014

I'm not gonna worry too much about this, already take steps as in mosquito repellant. I'd be focusing more on the bloodsuckers in D.C. And there have been 200 cases in the U.S.(imported cases though) since 2006 and it's only making news now? I wonder if the Florida case has anything to do with lax borders...it only takes one carrier to set off a pandemic...

DarkLight · Jul 20, 2014

@VHestin - It's making the news now because they are the first domestically acquired cases. I just gave blood on Thursday and they both asked me about travel out of the country to the Caribbean and gave me a warning pamphlet about it. First time for that.

Motomom34 · Jul 25, 2014

Rub dryer sheets all over and this will repel.

It's a modern old-wives tale: put a Bounce dryer sheet in your pocket while gardening and it'll keep away the mosquitoes or gnats. This may seem a bit far-fetched to those of us who have never tried it, but researchers have now found that there could be some truth in it, when it comes to gnats, anyway.
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Some swear by Bounce but the experts say that it only repels gnats. Either way it is worth trying before spraying chemicals on yourself.

Also just read about vanilla you can spray on yourself

add one teaspoon of vanilla extract per cup of water into a spray bottle then shake it up.
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Arrival Of Chikungunya Virus

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