Chikungunya – mosquito-borne virus spreading in the Caribbean

Chikungunya a mosquito-borne virus appears to be spreading quickly in the Caribbean during the winter tourism season just weeks after epidemiologists first found local transmission occurring in St. Martin.

Scientists said Tuesday that St. Martin now has as many as 200 cases of chikungunya, a virus that can cause a debilitating but rarely fatal sickness with fever, rash, fatigue and intense muscle and joint pain.

According to the Trinidad & Tobago-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, new cases have been confirmed on the Caribbean islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Barthelemy. The virus has also infected some residents of St. Maarten, which shares an island with St. Martin that was already battling dengue fever, a more serious mosquito-borne illness.

The World Health Organization (WHO) was notified of chikungunya’s presence in the Caribbean in early December when the first 2 cases were confirmed in St. Martin among residents who had not traveled recently.

Public health officials on the islands have stepped up fogging programs and increased epidemiological surveillance. They are also urging people to clear out stagnant water to reduce mosquito breeding sites.

Chikungunya means “that which bends up” in the Kimako language of Mozambique, a reference to the physique of a patient. It was first isolated in 1952 in the blood of a patient in Tanzania, and has infected millions of people in Asia and Africa.

Source: Associated Press