Scientists: Mosquito virus spreads to Americas

[Judi Lynn]

Scientists: Mosquito virus spreads to Americas
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 3:27 PM CST
Updated: Dec 17, 2013 3:27 PM CST
By DAVID McFADDEN
Associated Press

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - A nasty virus first detected in Africa that is spread to people by the bite of infected mosquitoes is being locally transmitted in the Americas for the first time on the tiny French Caribbean dependency of St. Martin, health officials said Tuesday.

Epidemiologists have so far confirmed about a dozen cases of locally acquired chikungunya virus in St. Martin, which shares a 34-square-mile (87-square-kilometer) island in the northeast Caribbean with the Dutch territory of St. Maarten. There are dozens more suspected cases.

The illness found mainly in Africa and Asia is usually not life threatening. But there is no vaccine for it, and it can cause a debilitating sickness with fever, rash, fatigue and vomiting and intense muscle and joint pain that can last for weeks in serious cases. It's commonly spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits dengue fever, a similar but more serious illness with a deadly hemorrhagic form.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent out a health advisory to doctors in the United States to consider chikungunya infection in patients with acute onset of fever and joint pain, "especially those who have recently traveled to the Caribbean."

More:
http://www.nbc4i.com/story/24244309/scientists-mosquito-virus-spreads-to-americas

[Demeter]

1. You don't get stuff like this out of the Arctic Circle, do you?

Well, then I rest my case.

[Warpy]

2. I'll stick to the desert, thanks

There are mosquitoes here but they stay within a mile or so of the river, the high rent district I can't afford. Equine encephalitis is the most serious disease transmitted to humans out here, although others have been found. I'm high and dry and it's a real pleasure to sit outdoors and enjoy a sunset without being eaten alive.

The harsh, high altitude winters also kill off a lot of nasties they see at lower altitudes.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Thanks for letting us know. Didn't know that about altitudes and disease-carrying critters. n/t

[Warpy]

5. it's more than just the altitude

Denver is the same altitude but buggier. I'm on the dry side of the mountains and that's what discourages mosquitoes. Any standing water in old tires, their favorite breeding ground, evaporates in a matter of hours after a rainstorm, too short a period to produce the bloodsuckers.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Hoping something suddenly goes right and it won't get any hotter.

If that changes any more we're all screwn.