US reports first locally acquired chikungunya cases
Lisa Schnirring
CIDRAP News
Jul 17, 2014
Florida health officials and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today announced the nation’s first locally acquired chikungunya cases, a notable development, but not a surprising one, given the rising number of infected travelers returning from the Caribbean outbreak region.
In a related development, Puerto Rico health officials declared a chikungunya epidemic, due to a rapidly rising number of cases there.
A statement today from the CDC described the first of two local chikungunya cases reported in Florida, in a man who had not traveled outside the United States. The agency said it is working closely with the Florida Department of Health to explore how the patient got sick with the virus.
Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Health (FDH) said today it has detected two locally acquired cases, one in Miami–Dade County and the other in Palm Beach County. The counties are on Florida’s southern tip, about 70 miles apart: Palm Beach County to the west and Dade County to the east.
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