First there was West Nile virus and then dengue on our doorstep. Now it’s Chikungunya (pronunciation: \chik-en-gun-ye click to hear pronunciation)- which is a new disease threat in the Western hemisphere. Like dengue, this virus is spread by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitos, causing fever and severe joint pain 3-7 days after a mosquito bite. There’s no cure- just supportive care.
Over 4,400 confirmed cases have been reported in the Caribbean among 12 different countries and territories, since the first case last December. CDC predicts that the virus will continue to spread throughout the Americas. This week Puerto Rico confirmed the first locally acquired case in the US. In Arizona, we do have Aedes aegypti mosquitos in Cochise, Graham, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Yavapai, and Yuma counties… so chikungunya and dengue could spread if either of them get a toe-hold.
Like dengue, this virus is spread by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitos, causing fever and severe joint pain 3-7 days after a mosquito bite. There’s no cure- just supportive care.
The mosquio that carries and spreads Yellow Fever is here in AZ; the shift in El Nino pattern is here (heavy rain in October) a factor in the 1879 epidemic that killed thousands of Americans; and potential carriers of YF arriving in increasing numbers (60,000 children from South and Central America being distributed around the nation and now the threat of immigration floodgates being opened soon.) Seems to me there is a greater Yellow Fever threat in AZ than the current Ebola scare.
Chikungunya is same as like dengue , deadly as dengue…i hope a vaccine will be there for it, people in India still go for home remedies to cure dengue.