A Hillsborough County woman is one of three imported chikungunya virus cases reported by the Florida Department of Health today.
It is believed the 44-year-old Tampa-area resident contracted the mosquito borne viral infection while visiting the Dominican Republic, according to Hillsborough County Health Department (HCHD) epidemiologist, Amy Pullman in an interview with The Global Dispatch.
Image/David Benbennick
The HCHD was notified by a treating physicians who recognized the symptoms as being chikungunya or dengue. She says the woman was a “classic, textbook case” of chikungunya.
Pullman notes the Hillsborough County case was the first confirmed in Florida, the cases from Broward and Miami-Dade were confirmed afterwards. For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page.
The chikungunya virus confirmation testing was performed by the Bureau of Public Health laboratory in Tampa by PCR methodology. The patient has since been released from the hospital after several days admission.
Mosquito control was immediately notified and spraying was performed while health officials waited for laboratory confirmation.
Read all the chikungunya reports on The Global Dispatch
Pullman says the important message to take from this case is–people who feel ill after travel need to seek medical attention and to mention their travel history to their health care provider.
In addition, Pullman says these individuals should stay indoors so the virus doesn’t spread into the local mosquito population.
