Peru Reports Its First Case of the Chikungunya Virus

Peru reported its first cases of the chikungunya virus in two people who recently traveled to the Dominican Republic.

Health ministry director Henry Rebaza said the man and woman who were diagnosed in Lima had recently traveled to a popular Caribbean vacation spot where the virus has been detected.

Health Authorities Confirm Spread of Chikungunya Virus from Caribbean to Central America
Health authorities revealed that the virus is rapidly spreading to other Central American counties.

Rebaza said the couple have been isolated and so far are the only ones known to have been infected, and then diagnosed in Peru.

The virus -- rarely fatal, but nevertheless serious -- sparks high fevers and severe joint aches, as well as headaches, nausea and extreme fatigue.

It has spread across the Caribbean, to Central America and now South America.

Amid Caribbean Outbreak, Chikungunya Virus Reported in Cuba
Six cases of mosquito-borne chikungunya virus on Wednesday confirmed by Cuban health authorities, the latest in a spate of Caribbean countries reporting the fever-causing disease in their backyard.

In the Caribbean, 16 countries have seen cases since the beginning of June, according to Cuba’s state-run newspaper Granma, and the World Health Organization counts 4,500 confirmed cases since the virus first appeared in December 2013.

The chikungunya virus is carried by mosquitoes -- most commonly the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, which are also responsible for dengue fever.

Chikungunya Mutation Places Several Continents at Risk of Epidemic: Study
Researchers of University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston were able to predict further adaptations of the chikungunya virus that recently spread from Africa to several continents.

There is no vaccine or treatment for chikungunya, which has infected millions of people in Africa and Asia since the disease was first recorded in 1952.

Source-AFP

El Salvador Confirms First Case of Dengue-Like Chikungunya Virus in the Country
Health officials in El Salvador confirmed the first case of a dengue-like disease that has been spreading across the Caribbean.