First Case of Chikungunya Virus Contracted in U.S.
WASHINGTON D.C. (Worthy News)– U.S. health officials today announced the first locally acquired case of chikungunya, a mosquito-borne virus that’s become prevalent in the Caribbean in recent months, CBS News reported.
The CDC reports a male patient in Florida was diagnosed with the virus, and had not recently traveled outside the country. Federal and Florida state health officials are investigating how the man could have contracted the virus domestically. They’re also working to monitor the region in an effort to prevent additional infections and educate residents on ways to prevent mosquito bites. Local transmission occurs when the insect bites a person with the infection and then transmits the virus by biting others.
Chikungunya — an African word that loosely translates as “contorted with pain” — is most commonly found in Asia and Africa, and began appearing in the Caribbean last winter. Between 2006 and 2013, there were approximately 28 reported cases of the virus each year in travelers returning to the U.S. This year, travel-related chikungunya has been diagnosed in patients who have recently visited to the Caribbean. — Source
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