Dallas County health officials have reported the 11th imported chikungunya case since the outbreak in the Western hemisphere. The current case has a recent travel history to Puerto Rico.
As of January 13, 2015, a total of 2,344 chikungunya virus disease cases have been reported to the CDC from U.S. states for 2014. Eleven locally-transmitted cases have been reported from Florida.
Texas has accounted for 69 of these cases, or 3 percent.
Puerto Rico has been a chikungunya hotspot in recent months. In total, health officials there have recorded in excess of 26,000 locally acquired cases of the mosquito borne virus and 13 deaths.
Related: Dallas expands Chikungunya virus mosquito surveillance and control
Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes such as Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. It can cause high fever, join and muscle pain, and headache. Chikungunya does not often result in death, but the joint painmay last for months or years and may become a cause of chronic pain and disability.
There is no specific treatment for chikungunya infection, nor any vaccine to prevent it. Pending the development of a new vaccine, the only effective means of prevention is to protect individuals against mosquito bites.
