Chikungunya virus is characterized by fever and joint pain, including other symptoms such as headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, or rash. It's transmitted to people by mosquitoes and is an epidemic on some Caribbean islands.
The virus already made its way into the United States, but mainly only in the South: Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. On Friday, four cases of chikungunya were recorded in Boston and the patients were said to have recently returned from Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The virus is also significantly present in Cuba and El Salvador.
According to the Center for Infectious Disease and Research Policy at the University of Minnesota, the number of chikungunya cases in the Dominican Republic as of June 16 topped 170,000. It is most common in the well-known Caribbean island and the Pan American Health Organization is doing all they can to notify natives of the affected countries about the virus and how to manage it.
The virus first appeared in the Caribbean this past December, but it was already endemic to parts of Africa, Asia, southern Europe, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans. And although it has made its way into a number of US states, the mosquitoes that transmit the disease are not native to the US. But health officials warn that these mosquitoes can be found in the southern and eastern parts of the country.
"There's nothing we need to do to prevent further spread in Massachusetts," said Dr. Catherine Brown, a Massachusetts state health veterinarian, in this Boston Globe article. "This is something that's been on everybody's radar screen since the end of last year. The fact that we are now beginning to identify people with infections of chikungunya who picked it up while they were traveling is not a surprise."
There is no cure or drug treatment for the virus. Medical staff can only relieve symptoms by using anti-pyretics, optimal analgesics, and fluids to treat the often times severe joint pain. Chikungunya was first documented in Tanzania back in 1952 when the African country experienced an outbreak.
All that is recommended to avoid contracting chikungunya as well as halting its spread is to wear clothing that minimizes skin exposure, use insect repellants regularly, and if you're sleeping in an area exposed to the outdoors (in the Caribbean) make sure you have protection, such as an insecticide treated mosquito net.
There have yet to be any public health alerts because the virus is not likely to spread uncontrollably in the US, but health officials are urging Caribbean travelers to take the proper precautionary measures.
