- The chikungunya virus was locally acquired in New York for the first time.
- China has its largest chikungunya outbreak since 2008, affecting global infection patterns.
- Symptoms include fever, joint pain and headaches, and there's no treatment available.
New York health officials said the first locally acquired case of chikungunya has been detected in a person from Long Island.
The New York Times reported that chikungunya cases have been surging in China, which is having its largest outbreak since a case was first found there in 2008.
Since 2013, the virus has become endemic in much of the Caribbean and Central and South America, but the Times said the U.S. has “largely been spared. Though a few thousand U.S. residents have been infected with chikungunya through travel, there have been only 13 instances of people catching the virus in the United States in the past decade and a half, all in Florida and Texas,” per the article.
New York’s county health department reported the infected person began experiencing symptoms in August “after having traveled outside of the region, but not out of the country,” per NBC News.
A half-dozen cases have been seen in New York this year, but all the people had traveled somewhere the virus was known to be circulating.
A mosquito bite is the source of the infection, as that’s how the virus spreads to people. But chikungunya virus has not been detected in New York mosquito pools. Mosquitoes, however, are the vector that carries a lot of viruses, some dangerous, including West Nile, Eastern equine encephalitis and Jamestown Canyon viruses.
What is chikungunya?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that the symptoms can include fever, joint pain, headache, muscle pain, joint swelling and rash. There are no treatments for the disease. Health care experts try to manage the symptoms.
Outbreaks have been seen in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Indian and Pacific Ocean islands. Travelers are often told they should be vaccinated if traveling to an area where it’s common.
Per the Times, “Two types of mosquitoes are known to effectively transmit chikungunya. One of them, the Aedes aegypti, or yellow fever mosquito, is not naturally found in New York. But the other type, Aedes albopictus, commonly called the Asian tiger mosquito, has extended its range to parts of New York after landing in the United States about 40 years ago."
How the virus spreads
People who are infected can spread the virus to mosquitoes, which can then spread it to other people in a cycle that can repeat and repeat. The CDC said preventing mosquito bites is key to preventing spread of the virus.
Spread can also occur through blood transfusion, handling infected blood in the laboratory or drawing blood from an infected patient, per the CDC. It’s not spread person-to-person or by coughing, sneezing or touching.
A pregnant woman can also spread the infection to the baby, though it’s rare. If she is infected when she gives birth, the baby can be infected. It is not spread through breast milk and there is no indication of infection due to breastfeeding.