FLORENCE, South Carolina — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported outbreaks of the chikungunya virus in the Western hemisphere. The first cases of locally-transmitted infections were recorded in Saint Martin, an island in the northeast Caribbean. Since December 2013, more than 100,000 suspected chikungunya infections have been identified in 17 countries and territories in the Caribbean.
More than 95 percent of these cases are attributed to the Dominican Republic, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Haiti and Saint Martin. Other affected countries include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Guyana, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additional cases have been reported in Italy, France and the U.S. (predominantly in the southeastern region). In the U.S., cases of chikungunya have occurred among American travelers returning from affected Caribbean areas. According to the CDC, these imported cases could contribute to local transmissions of the virus in various parts of the U.S.
Health officials have stated that the virus may soon infect people living in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Jamaica. Dr. Delon Brennen, deputy chief medical officer at the Ministry of Health, believes that chikungunya will likely spread to the Bahamas due to travel and trade throughout the Caribbean. In preparation for the arrival of the virus, healthcare providers in both public and private sectors are undergoing extensive training.
Discovered in Africa during the 1950s, the chikungunya virus has since traveled across the Indian Ocean region and infected tens of millions of people. Before the virus became prevalent in the Caribbean, outbreaks were mostly documented in Africa, Southeast Asia, India and Pakistan. Yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti), which also spread dengue fever, are the original transmitters of the chikungunya virus to people. In 2006, Asian tiger mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus) became the second means of transmission.
There is currently no treatment or cure for the chikungunya virus, which has an incubation period of two to 12 days. Symptoms include high fevers, rashes, headaches, nausea, fatigue and intensely painful arthritis that may last for two to three months. Most symptoms improve after about a week. The pain can last even after the other symptoms disappear, but chikungunya is rarely fatal. Older adults are at a higher risk of mortality when contracting the virus.
The proximity of mosquito breeding sites to human habitation has been cited as a “significant risk factor” for the spread of chikungunya. To control the transmission of the virus, citizens have been urged to protect themselves from mosquito bites by wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants, using pest repellents, eliminating sources of standing water around homes and keeping window screens and air conditioning systems in good condition.
Both visitors to and returning residents from the endemic countries should be especially careful. Travelers who experience fever and severe joint pains should consult a physician in order to assess and test for possible chikungunya. Until a new vaccine can be developed, everybody must take the necessary precautions to safeguard themselves against the virus.
– Kristy Liao
Sources: Bernama, CBS, Jamaica Gleaner, The Mountain Mail, The Scientist, Tribune 242
Photo: Institut Pasteur