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Old 02-08-14, 12:35   #3
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Update re: NEW ZIKA Virus +Plaque/Dengue/Chikungunya Spreading Around The World

Nasty Chikungunya Virus Gaining Traction in U.S & Many Countries.

John Bacon, USA TODAY, 1 August 2014


Tiger mosquitos, which are known carriers of human diseases including chikungunya, West Nile virus and dengue fever.


Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne virus that has swept through the Caribbean in recent months, is making gains in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

The CDC issued a count this week indicating almost 400 cases have been diagnosed in non-Caribbean areas of the United States this year, all but two of them contracted outside the United States. Another 215 cases were diagnosed in Puerto Rico, where 199 were contracted locally. Florida leads the way among states, with 107 cases, and its two locally contracted cases are the only ones in the continental U.S.

"With the recent outbreaks in the Caribbean and the Pacific, the number of chikungunya cases among travelers visiting or returning to the United States from affected areas will continue to increase," the CDC said.

Health officials confirmed a Cabarrus County, N.C., resident has tested positive for the chikungunya virus. The person was bitten by a mosquito while traveling to the Caribbean a few weeks ago. VPC

Officials said that chikungunya — spread by bites from infected Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquitoes — is not contagious from person to person, is typically not life-threatening and will likely resolve on its own.

Chikungunya causes symptoms such as fever and joint pain within a week after a person is bitten by an infected mosquito. Patients can also develop severe headaches, muscle pain and swollen joints. There is no vaccine and no specific treatment.

From 2006‒2013, studies identified an average of 28 people per year nationwide with positive tests for recent chikungunya virus infection. All were travelers visiting or returning to the United States from affected areas, mostly in Asia.

In late 2013, chikungunya virus was found for the first time in the Americas on islands in the Caribbean. The CDC notes that travelers can protect themselves by preventing mosquito bites. Other advice: When traveling to countries with chikungunya virus, use insect repellent, wear long sleeves and pants and stay in places with air conditioning or that use window and door screens.

The word chikungunya, from the East African Kimakonde language, translates loosely as contorted or hunched over from pain.


The disease is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. It has been documented in 40 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Symptoms typically begin three to seven days after being bitten and include fever and severe joint pains, often in the hands and feet.
There is no vaccine or medication to prevent the disease, but it rarely kills those infected.



Painful Mosquito-Borne Disease Now Infecting More Than 350,000 People In The Americas


The first report of chikungunya in the Americas surfaced in the Caribbean in December 2013. By March, there were 15,000 such reports. Now, according to the latest numbers from the regional office of the World Health Organization, there are 350,580 suspected cases of this incredibly painful viral infection.

Chikungunya is spread by mosquitoes. It involves a sudden fever and, in most cases, severe joint pain that usually lasts a few days but has been known to continue for months and even years. There's no cure, but doctors can help relieve the patient's symptoms.

"It's a really pathetic, nasty disease," Joe Conlin, a medical entomologist and spokesperson for American Mosquito Control Association told Business Insider in 2013. "I've... seen and heard children just screaming for days on end because of the pain."

Chikungunya was first identified in 1952, according to the World Health Organization, and there were sporadic outbreaks in Asia and Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. But in the past decade, it's become a much larger threat. "Since 2004, chikungunya has expanded its geographical range, causing sustained epidemics of unprecedented magnitude in Asia and Africa," notes a recent report from the CDC.

The virus reached epidemic proportions in India in 2006, when 1.5 million people fell sick. It jumped to Europe in 2007, infecting 197 people in Italy.

For years, researchers have been expecting mosquito-borne diseases like West Nile to increase in the Americas, and it seems chikungunya's time has come.

The Dominican Republic has had 193,395 suspected cases since December, more than any other country in the current outbreak. There have also been tens of thousands of cases in Haiti, Martinique, and Guadaloupe, and a scattering of other cases elsewhere — including El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, and Saint Lucia.

As of July 8, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had counted 136 cases in the contiguous United States, but all of these were "travel-associated." That means the chikungunya was found in visitors or in American residents returning from areas where the disease is prevalent. Still, that's much higher than the recent average just 28 local cases each year.

Chikungunya is spread by mosquitoes, which means it doesn't spread from an infected person to someone else directly. The right species of mosquito needs to be present to act as an intermediary, and these species are endemic in parts of the United States.

When an infected person is bitten by the right species of mosquito, that mosquito sucks up their infected blood and can then pass on the disease when it bites another person.

"To date, no local transmission has been identified in the continental United States," the CDC notes, meaning we haven't yet seen it spreading through mosquitoes in the U.S. But if an infected person is bitten on U.S. soil, "these imported cases could result in local spread of the virus."

While effective mosquito control and widespread air conditioning make huge numbers of cases unlikely here, it's probably just a matter of time until we see this painful disease begin to spread throughout the U.S. In a recent issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, Roger Nasci, of the CDC's Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, called the spread of chikungunya to mainland South, Central, and North America "inevitable."

Here are the full numbers from the Pan-American Health Organization, not including imported cases:






Quote:
Mosquito Myths

Just about everyone can agree that mosquitoes are more than a little annoying. They bite, the bites itch and the repellent stinks. Even more disturbing are the incurable viruses these tiny predators can carry, including West Nile, malaria, yellow fever,dengue fever and chikungunya.

But just about everything else you thought you knew about mosquitoes and mosquito bites may be wrong.

Here are the facts behind mosquito myths to help prevent the itch and maintain your health:

Myth No. 1: All mosquitoes bite humans

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are about 3,500 species of mosquitoes. Some feed on plant nectar, some on reptiles, some on birds and others on mammals. Of the species that do bite humans, it is only the females that go for blood -- the protein aids in egg production.

The Aedes vexans species, which is found in every U.S. state, does feed on humans, making it seem that all mosquitoes are out to get you.

For this species, "if you're a mammal, you're on the menu," said Joseph M. Conlon, a retired U.S. Navy entomologist and a technical adviser to the American Mosquito Control Association.

Myth No. 2: Mosquitoes are attracted to certain foods, colors and blood types

You may have heard that eating certain foods -- such as bananas, beer and garlic -- can attract or repel mosquitoes. But Conlon said, "Nothing that you eat affects mosquitoes all that much."

You can rest assured that wearing dark clothes probably won't draw mosquitoes to you either. And Conlon said a study on mosquitoes' attraction to Type O blood was later refuted due to bad statistics.

Harry Savage, chief research entomologist at the CDC, said carbon dioxide and heat are the biggest draws for mosquitoes. Scent can also play a role. Ingredients in your sweat and other skin secretions, which are often genetically determined, can make one person more attractive to a mosquito than another.

Both experts agree that size matters when it comes to being bitten.

Evidence suggests mosquitoes tend to prefer men over women, adults over children and larger people over smaller ones. Conlon said the larger figures likely produce more heat, more carbon dioxide and have more body mass to bite.

Myth No. 3: Citronella plants and candles will protect you


"Citronella is a weak repellent -- the oil. You have to crush the leaves," Conlon said. So that citronella plant on sale at the store? It's not your best bet for preventing bites.

Citronella candles aren't going to help much either. A breeze or change of wind direction can blow away any protection.

"To me, citronella only protects the candle," Savage said.

Conlon said there is no known effective area repellent. The best option is an Environmental Protection Agency-registered repellent for use on the body, such as products that contain the ingredient DEET. The EPA has an online tool for finding products that meet its standards.

Conlon also cautions against natural products claiming to repel mosquitoes. "There really isn't any evolutionary pressure to produce a (natural) repellent for humans. We are just another protein source on this planet."

Myth No. 4: The United States is free of mosquito-borne diseases


"No matter where you go in the U.S., there are good vectors (mosquitoes that transmit disease)," Savage said.

The Asian tiger mosquito, common in the Eastern and Central states, is a particular species to watch. It arrived in the United States from Asia in the 1980s, and the species is a documentedcarrier of dengue fever, yellow fever, chikungunya, dog heartworm and West Nile. Savage said this mosquito can be found in Ohio and Missouri, for example, and along the East Coast.

Malaria is no stranger here either. Malaria can flourish in moderate climates, Conlon said, not just in the tropics. As recent as the late 19th century, half the United States was endemic with the disease, according to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.

Of more recent concern to public health experts is the introduction of atypical or non-native viruses, such as West Nile and chikungunya.
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