Chikungunya suspected and confirmed cases top 18,000 in the Caribbean, suspected outbreak in the Dominican Republic being investigated
The number of confirmed and suspected chikungunya cases in the Caribbean continues to increase, in fact, some new cities on the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe have reported cases for the first time, according to a European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) update today.
A female Aedes aegypti mosquito
Image/CDC
To date, there has been 3,211 confirmed/probable chikungunya cases reported in the region, including five deaths and 15,282 suspected cases.
In addition, a suspected outbreak is being reported in the Dominican Republic according to the Spanish language news source, Noticias SIN (computer translated).
According to Health Minister Freddy Hidalgo, more than a thousand patients , since February, have come to the medical center with chikungunya-like symptoms.
Samples have been sent to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation.
The report does note that there is no confirmed cases of chikungunya to date.
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[…] The Dominican Republic is experiencing an epidemic of the mosquito borne virus, in which over 250,000 cases (well more than half of all cases reported in the Western hemisphere) have been reported since the virus found its way to the country in March 2014. […]
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I am “tracking” chikungunya virus since 2006. And i don’t need to wait for the laboratory results to say that Dominican Republic is facing a outbreak of Chikungunya Virus.
Take a loot at our chikungunya map => http://www.chikungunya.net/antilles.html – You will understand why chik is in RD today, and why in USA tomorow…