In December 2014, Bermuda reported local transmission of chikungunya. This is the first time that local transmission of chikungunya has been reported in Bermuda. To date, the island has seen 10 suspected and confirmed autochthonous chikungunya cases.

Bermuda/CIA
Bermuda/CIA

This has prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue a travel notice for travelers to the North Atlantic Ocean island.

CDC recommends that travelers to Bermuda protect themselves from chikungunya by preventing mosquito bites. Some travelers may be more likely to get chikungunya, have severe disease, or be at higher risk for other reasons. CDC advises travelers in high-risk groups to discuss their travel plans with their health care provider. These groups include the following: People who have arthritis, people with serious underlying medical conditions (such as high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes), people older than 65, women who are late in their pregnancies, because of the risk to babies born at the time their mother is sick and long-term travelers, including missionaries and humanitarian aid workers and people visiting friends and relatives

There is currently no vaccine or medicine to prevent chikungunya. The only way to prevent chikungunya is to prevent mosquito bites. Preventing bites can be difficult, but it is important as you can get sick after just one bite.

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 pain may 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.

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