Dangerous situation in Mexico and Colombia.
Even in Europe you need to be alert to cases of Chikungunya.
Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease causing symptoms such as fever, joint pain, muscle pain, headache and nose and gum bleeding.
As announced by the CDC, Centre dor Desease preventione and Control, before 2013, Chikungunya virus outbreaks had been identified in countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans. In late 2013, the first local transmission of chikungunya virus in the Americas was identified in Caribbean countries and territories. Local transmission means that mosquitoes in the area have been infected with the virus and are spreading it to people. Since then, local transmission has been identified in 44 countries or territories throughout the Americas with more than 1.2 million suspected cases reported to the Pan American Health Organization from affected areas (Updated data from PAHO).
Chikungunya is an infection caused by the Chikungunya virus. It causes an illness with an acute febrile phase lasting two to five days, followed by a longer period of joint pains in the extremities; this pain may persist for years in some cases.
The disease is transmitted similarly to dengue fever to humans by virus-carrying Aedes mosquitoes. Specifically, two species of mosquitoes, A. albopictus and A. aegypti are extrinsic hosts (vectors) of chikungunya virus. The strain of Chikungunya spreading to the US from the Caribbean is most easily spread by A. aegypti. Concern exists that this strain of chikungunya could mutate to make the A. albopictus vector more efficient.
If this mutation were to occur, Chikungunya would be more of a public health concern to the US. The A. albopictus or Asian tiger mosquito is more widespread in the US and is more aggressive than the A. aegypti. It is known that monkeys, apes, and rodents act as a reservoir for the virus. Having rodents as a viral reservoir for chikungunya differs from that of dengue which has only humans and nonhuman primates as hosts.
In Acapulco, on April, authorities in Mexico’s Pacific resort are fumigating streets and homes to combat an outbreak of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus, but some crime-weary residents refuse to open their doors. The state of Guerrero has reported more than half of the chikungunya cases found in Mexico this month, according to the health ministry.
Most of Guerrero’s infections have been detected in Acapulco, prompting authorities to deploy 550 health officials and 62 vehicles with fumigating sprays to kill mosquito larvae. The city is conducting lab tests on some 2,000 people with symptoms of the virus to see if they have chikungunya.
Officials said the at-risk areas in Acapulco are outside the tourist zone, in the rougher neighborhoods that have been hit by drug gang violence and other crimes.
Five percent of the 300,000 families whose homes have been fumigated in the past are refusing to open their doors again over fears that criminals could rob them, said Rufino Silva, another state health official. “It’s because of public safety, seeing how things are at the moment,” said one fearful woman living in the dangerous Renacimiento district.
The virus — rarely fatal, but nevertheless serious — sparks high fevers and severe joint aches, as well as headaches, nausea and extreme fatigue.
A mosquito-clearing operation in Acapulco, Guerrero State, Mexico, on April 15, 2015 (AFP Photo/Pedro Pardo)
Chikungunya in Colombia
The number of Chikungunya cases in Colombia has multiplied by 14 times in five months. The virus has infected more than 200,000 people, according to the national health institute INS.
Rash from Chikungunya on the right foot
The virus in Europe
On 21 October 2014, the National Focal Point for the RSI of France has notified WHO of four cases of Chikungunya in Montpellier (District of Hérault, Languedoc-Roussillon, France). The four cases were confirmed on October 20 by laboratory tests at the National Reference Centre for arboviruses.
The 5 cases of Chikungunya are among 1331 total reports in France from May 1 to October 24 of last year. Were confirmed: 408 imported cases of Chikungunya; 150 imported cases of dengue; 4 indigenous cases of dengue and 5 indigenous cases of Chikungunya.
Europe: Aedes aegypti maps distribution – January 2015
Source: http://ecdc.europa.eu
