The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) has confirmed seven Texas cases of chikungunya, a virus that can cause fever and severe joint pain and is transmitted by mosquitoes. All cases have been imported, meaning that travelers have acquired the illness while visiting areas where the virus is more common. However, those imported cases mean there is a potential for chikungunya to spread in Texas because the Aedes mosquitoes that transmit it are present in the state.

Cases have been confirmed in Bexar, Gonzales, Harris, Montgomery, Travis (2) and Williamson counties.

Image/CDC
Image/CDC