First Case Of Chikungunya Virus Confirmed In Harris County (Houston) Texas
Chikungunya, the newest mosquito-borne viral threat to the summer season, has arrived in Harris County.
County health officials reported Friday that an elderly man in the northwest region tested positive after a June trip to the Caribbean, where the virus was detected late last year and now is thriving. He developed symptoms before returning.
The virus was confirmed four days after Texas health officials announced the state's first case of the virus, which renders patients feverish and immobile with severe joint pain. That patient, who lives in Williamson County near Austin, also had recently been in the Caribbean. To the best of public health officials' knowledge, the virus has not yet been transmitted in the continental U.S.
"Many of our residents travel abroad for pleasure and business so we're not surprised to learn someone from here has been infected," said Dr. Umair A. Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services. "Right now, I'd say there's a small chance of the virus spreading here. You need a larger population of infected people for that."
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