| Title | US Reports First Locally Acquired Chikungunya Cases | |
| Date | Sunday July 20 2014, @11:23PM | |
| Author | martyb | |
| Topic | ||
| from the bug-bite-brings-big-bother--better-bash-bothersome-buggers dept. | ||
Florida health officials and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today announced the nation's first locally acquired chikungunya cases.
Symptoms: People infected with chikungunya virus typically develop fever and joint pain. Other symptoms can include muscle aches, headaches, joint swelling or rash. Infection with chikungunya virus is rarely fatal, but the joint pain can often be severe and debilitating.
A statement today from the CDC described the first of two local chikungunya cases reported in Florida, in a man who had not traveled outside the United States. The agency said it is working closely with the Florida Department of Health to explore how the patient got sick with the virus.
The Florida Department of Health (FDH) said today it has detected two locally acquired cases, one in Miami-Dade County and the other in Palm Beach County. The counties are on Florida's southern tip, about 70 miles apart: Palm Beach County to the west and Dade County to the east.
This is a notable, but not surprising, development given the rising number of infected travelers returning from the Caribbean outbreak region. In a related development, Puerto Rico health officials declared a chikungunya epidemic, due to a rapidly rising number of cases there.
See also:
- http://scienceblog.com/73414/us-reports-first-locally-acquired-chikungunya-cases/
- http://boingboing.net/2014/07/18/first-locally-acquired-cas.html
- For more information about preventing mosquito bites, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/chikungunya/prevention/index.html
[NOTE: updated to correct malformed links.]
| Links |
printed from SoylentNews, US Reports First Locally Acquired Chikungunya Cases on 2024-04-19 22:32:02