Chikungunya case count in the Dominican Republic tops 750
On Friday, the Dominican Republic Ministry of Health confirmed, with the laboratory testing of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, that there is a chikungunya outbreak in municipality of chigger in San Cristobol Province.
Aedes aegypti
Image/CDC
The extent of the outbreak has been report by the Xinhua Espanol news agency Sunday (computer translated) who states 767 people tested positive for the virus.
Xinhua continues: In the township the rate of people with symptoms of the disease started 41 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the report by the Ministry of Health.
“The distribution of events shows that the period of extrinsic incubation (within the mosquito that transmits the disease) may have occurred in mid-February. Among the 767 cases, 446 were identified in open houses, inhabited by 1,855 people,” said Health report.
The CDC says Chikungunya virus is transmitted to people by mosquitoes. The most common symptoms of chikungunya virus infection are fever and joint pain. Other symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, or rash.
There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat chikungunya virus infection.
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