CDC Offers Update on Chikungunya Virus
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Credit: James Gathany/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an update on the spread of chikungunya, the virus spread to the U.S. from the Caribbean beginning last December.
The outbreak has caused an estimated 795,000 cases in 37 countries and territories, the CDC said. At least 1,600 travelers have been reported to have returned to the U.S. with chikungunya. Prior to the recent outbreak, the CDC says just 28 travelers with chikungunya entered the U.S. each year.
Approximately nine million people travel between the U.S. and the Caribbean each year, the CDC estimates. Those travelers going to the Caribbean or Central or South America are advised to be aware of the risk this fall and winter, and make sure they use insect repellant.
“The beginning of fall means that mosquito problems in the continental United States will be decreasing,” Dr. Roger Nasci, chief of the CDC’s Arboviral Diseases Branch, said. “However, travelers to areas where the chikungunya outbreak continues are at risk of becoming infected.”
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