Chikungunya reported in Mississippi
The mosquito borne virus that has infected over 100,000 people in the Caribbean and South America has showed up in Rankin County, Mississippi.
The Clarion-Ledger reports today that a traveling medical professional from Alabama was in Haiti on work when she contracted the disease that attacks your joints. She was working with a Jackson doctor two weeks ago when she got a rash. She was treated at River Oaks in Flowood.
Haiti has reported a sharp rise in chikungunya since first seeing the virus, reporting some 15,000 cases as of last week.
Of the 18 imported chikungunya cases reported in Florida this year, 12 had a travel history to Haiti. For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page.
According to the World Health Organization, Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease first described during an outbreak in southern Tanzania in 1952. The name ‘chikungunya’ derives from a root verb in the Kimakonde language, meaning “to become contorted” and describes the stooped appearance of sufferers with joint pain.
Chikungunya is characterized by an abrupt onset of fever frequently accompanied by joint pain. Other common signs and symptoms include muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash. The joint pain is often very debilitating, but usually ends within a few days or weeks.
Most patients recover fully, but in some cases joint pain may persist for several months, or even years. Occasional cases of eye, neurological and heart complications have been reported, as well as gastrointestinal complaints.
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