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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Mosquito and Fly Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #253323
Title: Globalization of Chikungunya Virus: Threat to the U.S.

Author
item Linthicum, Kenneth - Ken
item CHRETIEN, JEAN-PAUL - Walter Reed Army Institute
item ANYAMBA, ASSAF - Goddard Space Flight Center

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/28/2010
Publication Date: 3/28/2010
Citation: Linthicum, K., Chretien, J., Anyamba, A. 2010. Globalization of Chikungunya Virus: Threat to the U.S. 76th Annual Meeting of the American Mosquito Control Association in Lexington, Kentucky on March 28 - April 1, 2010; pg. 14.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: In August, 2004, Kenyan health authorities and partners identified chikungunya virus as the cause of the febrile epidemic in a coastal island city. The virus is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes in tropical Africa and Asia; the fever is rarely fatal but can incapacitate for weeks. Control was delayed, in part, because chikungunya fever clinically resembles endemic diseases, such as malaria and dengue. The epidemic spread to Indian Ocean islands and India, where it continues, and more than 1 million cases are suspected. As infected travelers returned from epidemic areas to temperate regions, concern developed that local mosquitoes could sustain disease transmission. Aedes aegypti, the likely vector in Kenya, occurs throughout the tropics and subtropics. Aedes albopictus was implicated in the subsequent outbreak on Reunion Island that affected 265,000 people. Aided by tire shipments, the native Asian mosquito inhabits Pacific islands, parts of Africa and Latin America, 14 European countries, and 28 US States. In June 2007, an outbreak of chikungunya fever occurred in Italy, the first reported in a temperate country. The chain of chikungunya fever outbreaks from Kenya to Italy reflects a convergence of factors. Among them are rapid international transport, previous introduction of exotic mosquito species, inadequate mosquito control, and climatic conditions. We discuss the potential threat that chikungunya virus poses to the U.S.