The Puerto Rico Department of Health (Departamento de Salud de Puerto Rico) has reported the first confirmed case of chikungunya virus on the Caribbean island yesterday, according to the Department’s Facebook page.

The posting late yesterday says, “Secretaria del Departamento de Salud informa sobre primer caso de Chikungunya confirmado en Puerto Rico” (Secretary of the Department of Health reports first confirmed case of Chikungunya in Puerto Rico.).

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The Associated Press reports Health Secretary Ana Rius says the patient is a 16-year-old girl who lives in Puerto Rico’s capital, San Juan. The patient did no require hospitalization for her illness. For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page.

The first autochthonous chikungunya cases in the Western hemisphere were reported on the French side of St. Martin last December. There is currently greater than 63,000 cases reported in the Caribbean and South America.

Related: Florida reports 10 imported chikungunya cases in 2014