Mosquito-Borne Chikungunya Virus Likely to Reach Mexico, Says Health Ministry Gabriel Stargardter - Reuters
go to original October 17, 2014

MEXICO CITY - Mexico is very likely to join the list of countries to register cases of the painful mosquito-borne viral disease chikungunya, a senior health ministry official said this week.

Chikungunya is spread by two mosquito species, and is typically not fatal but can cause debilitating symptoms including fever, headache and severe joint pain lasting months.

There is no current treatment for the virus, which was detected for the first time in the Americas late last year, and no licensed vaccine to prevent it.

Given that the virus has already shown up in much of the Caribbean, Central America and the United States, it is also likely to reach Mexico, Pablo Kuri, the deputy health minister in charge of disease prevention, told Reuters.

"It's very probable that at some point, we'll have confirmed cases of chikungunya," he said, noting that six cases have already been detected, but those people had contracted the virus in the Caribbean and El Salvador.

Read the rest at Firstpost

Chikungunya: The Mosquito-Borne Virus Explained (Newsy Science)

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