First Locally Acquired Case of Chikunguyna Reported in Florida

First case of acquired Chikungunya was reported in Florida by a male who has not traveled outside the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The first locally acquired case of the disease was reported seven months after the mosquito-borne virus chikungunya was recognized in the Western Hemisphere. Since then, the federal authorities are working in collaboration with the Florida Department of Health to investigate how the patient contracted the virus. Apart from this, CDC will monitor for other locally acquired U.S. cases in the next few weeks and months.

On an average, since 2006 the United Stated has had an average 28 imported cases of chickungunya per year in travelers returning from countries where the virus is common. Till date, nearly 243 travel-associated cases have been reported in 31 states and two territories. But, it is for the first time that in the United States mosquitoes are thought to spread the virus to a non-traveler. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands reported 121 and two cases of locally acquired chikungunya, respectively.

"The arrival of chikungunya virus, first in the tropical Americas and now in the United States, underscores the risks posed by this and other exotic pathogens," said Roger Nasci, Ph.D., chief of CDC's Arboviral Diseases Branch. "This emphasizes the importance of CDC's health security initiatives designed to maintain effective surveillance networks, diagnostic laboratories and mosquito control programs both in the United States and around the world."

The mosquito-borne virus Chikungunya is transmitted by two species of mosquitoes - Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Both these species are found in southern United Sates and few regions of southwest.

To help track the virus, CDC has urged the state health department to report cases of chickungunya.

CDC officials believe, "Chikungunya will behave like dengue virus in the United States, where imported cases have resulted in sporadic local transmission but have not caused widespread outbreaks. None of the more than 200 imported chikungunya cases between 2006 and 2013 have triggered a local outbreak."

It is very rarely that the virus is fatal, but the joint pain it causes can be severe and devastating. This virus is not transmitted from person to person. Unfortunately there is no vaccine and no specific treatment for infection.