July 30, 2014
Zaina Kahuk
News Writer
Headlines
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention are now warning that Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne virus that has swept through the Caribbean, is making its way to the United States. So far, almost 400 cases have been diagnosed in non-Caribbean areas of the United States this year. Two of these cases were contracted out of the United States. About 215 cases were diagnosed in Puerto Rico, where 199 were contracted locally. In Florida 107 cases have been reported, the two locally contracted cases are the only ones in the continental U.S. Officials said that chikungunya spreads by bites from infected Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. The virus is not contagious from person to person and typically not life-threatening. Symptoms include fever and joint pain within a week after a person is bitten. Patients can also develop severe headaches, muscle pain and swollen joints. There is no vaccine and no specific treatment, the virus will usually resolve on its own.
