Chikungunya Case Reported In US, Threatens South America: How Can You Protect Yourself From Mosquito-Borne Virus?

The chikungunya virus has officially hit the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to authorities, as the first locally transmitted case has been confirmed. The movement of the virus, coupled with the high tourism to the Caribbeans, has raised concerns about the virus spreading to the United States. After all, there have been cases reported in the US in patients who recently traveled to the Caribbean.

The Associated Press reports that U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working to "raise awareness and prevent the spread of the virus." Currently the CDC is monitoring chikungunya in Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Virginia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“It is an important development when disease moves from one continent to another,” said Dr. C. James Hospedales, the executive director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency in Trinidad, to the New York Times. “Is it likely here to stay? Probably. That’s the pattern we have observed elsewhere.”

The chikungunya fever -- pronounced chik-en-GUN-ya, which literally translates to "that which bends up" in the Kimakonde language of Mozambique -- is a viral disease discovered in Tanzania in 1952. Featuring similarities to dengue, the symptoms of chikungunya fever, which is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitos, include: high fever, headache, nausea, fatigue, rash and muscle pain. Unlike dengue, the fever is not fatal but the joint pain lasts longer.

The CDC warns that there is no medicine to treat the virus infection and as such, people should take preventative measures to reduce their risk of exposure. How can your protect yourself? Unfortunately, there is no vaccine, but when traveling to areas with the chikungunya virus, you should apply insect repellent (containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, and oil of lemon eucalyptus and para-menthane-diol), wear long sleeves and pants, and stay in areas with air conditioning or have windows and door screens.

There have been two million cases of chikungunya fever, reports the World Health Organization, around the world, including: India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar and Thailand. There have also been epidemics in Northern Italy and on the French island of Réunion.

According to public health experts, the chikungunya fever the viral disease was first reported outside of its usual area in St. Martin in December 2013 before spreading to seven other nations. Earlier this year, a mosquito-borne virus afflicting the Caribbean was detected in the Dominican Republic. Since the first detection of the chikungunya fever this March, the virus has spread through the Caribbean island with over 3,500 suspected cases.

Commonly found in Africa and Asia, the next destination for the mosquito virus is suspected to be South America. While the virus has not hit South America, experts are concerned that it will easily spread to Central and South America since the regions provide the perfect environment for the virus.

“It certainly has the potential to move to a lot of other places in the Western Hemisphere,” said vector-borne disease specialist Ann M. Powers, from the CDC, to the New York Times. “All of Central America and big parts of South America would certainly be susceptible.”