Chikungunya Virus Infects More Than 1
Million in Americas
A debilitating mosquito-borne virus, called
Chikungunya, has stricken more than 1
million people in the Western Hemisphere
since spreading there a year ago.
The Pan-American Health Organization
reports 155 reported deaths as of
December 12, almost all in the Caribbean
island nations of Guadeloupe and
Martinique. There have been 1,900 cases
reported in travelers returning to the
United States.
Chikungunya is marked by severe joint pain,
inflammation, headaches, rashes and fever.
If the infection is severe enough, it can lead
to death. Symptoms can persist for months
in those who survive, causing debilitating
arthritis.
The virus, which has symptoms similar to
dengue fever, has long been a scourge in
Asia and Africa. In fact the name,
Chikungunya, comes from the African
Makonde dialect, meaning “bending over in
pain.”
There is currently no vaccine or treatment
for the disease.
Chikungunya is carried by two mosquito
species -- Aedes aegypti and Aedes
albopictus -- that also transmit the dengue
virus. Chikungunya, which is carried in the
blood, is picked up by mosquitoes after
they bite an infected person and spread
when the insects then bite uninfected
individuals.
Public health officials worry that the virus
could persist in the Americas for months, as
climate conditions in the tropical countries
are ripe for the insect carriers to flourish.
They warn that Chikungunya cases could
escalate in a number of South American
countries, including Brazil, Peru and
Paraguay, with the approach of the summer
months.
Source: http://m.voanews.com/a/chikungunya-virus-has-infected-more-than-1-million-in-americas/2570840.html

God please free us from all these useless life-snatching diseases