Chikungunya – Coming to America ?

Chikunguna is hardly a “household” word in the United States; but we may all be talking about the disease very soon! This viral infection, transmitted by mosquitoes, is associated with high fever, rash and severe joint pains. Even after recovery, the pains may persist for many months. Originally described in Africa, the disease spread to Asia, causing an epidemic of over 1.5 million cases in India during 2006 to 2007. At one point, an Indian traveler carried the infection to Italy, resulting in hundreds of cases in the region of Ravenna. During the first half of 2014, new outbreaks were reported in the South Pacific; and in a period of only five months, over 660,000 cases have occurred in the Caribbean, involving essentially all regional islands and several mainland countriues. Once a “rare tropical disease”, Chikungunya is now endemic to at least 75 countries. Few realize that the mosquitoes which transmit Chikungunya in Africa, India, Italy and the Caribbean are also found in Florida and Texas. 750 imported cases have already been reported on the U.S. mainland during 2014, and it may be only a matter of time until a mosquito bites one such case, and begins a chain of transmission to the local population (as occurred in Italy in 2007). There is only one book on the subject of Chikungunya – which also covers Zika, another emerging mosquito virus disease. Chikungunya and Zika: Global Status contains a thorough review of global and country-specific...
Source: GIDEON blog - Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Tags: Ebooks Epidemiology Outbreaks Source Type: blogs