Puerto Rico declares chikungunya epidemic
11:10 AM Friday Jul 18, 2014
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) Health officials in Puerto Rico on Thursday declared an epidemic of the mosquito-borne virus known as chikungunya, which was introduced into the Caribbean region late last year.
Health Secretary Ana Rius said that more than 200 cases had been confirmed on the island as of June 25 and that the majority of them were reported in the capital of San Juan and nearby areas.
The first case of chikungunya in the U.S. territory was reported in late May.
Also on Thursday, officials in Jamaica reported the island’s first confirmed case. The chief medical officer, Dr. Kevin Harvey, said the virus was found in a person who had recently traveled to a country where there have been locally transmitted cases.
In Florida, health officials reported the first domestically acquired chikungunya infections in the United States. Officials said it happened in two cases, both of which involved a person infected with the virus after visiting the Caribbean being bitten again by an uninfected mosquito in Florida, which then transmitted the illness further.
Across the Caribbean, the Pan American Health Organization recorded more than 354,000 suspected and confirmed cases as of July 11. The Western Hemisphere’s first locally transmitted case was confirmed in December in the French Caribbean territory of St. Martin.
Chikungunya scares away Haiti aid groups About 100 passengers cancel trips to Haiti
UPDATED 6:30 PM EDT Jul 17, 2014
FORT PIERCE, Fla —Officials with Missionary Flights International said Thursday that the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus has aid groups scared to go to Haiti.
“Approximately 100 passengers have canceled due to the (chikungunya) virus,” pilot Harold Martin said. “We’ve never seen anything quite like this.”
MFI is a nonprofit based at the St. Lucie County Airport that flies church groups and aid organizations to Haiti for service projects, but when the Caribbean chikungunya outbreak reached epidemic proportions, Martin said dozens of people started canceling their trips. “When the people aren’t going, the vital service projects in Haiti aren’t happening,” Martin said. Volunteers and even one of MFI’s mechanics have come back from Haiti showing symptoms of chikungunya. “He’s in his early 60s, and he was out for about three weeks,” Martin said. “The joint paint was excruciating.”
MFI pilots have started keeping strong DEET repellant in their cockpits and spraying themselves down before landing in Haiti. Alice Wise has an orphanage to run, so she’s flying out to Haiti on Friday morning. Just last week, her brother-in-law returned from Haiti suffering from chikungunya.“He’s very, very weak and falling down, and he can’t eat or drink,” Wise said. Despite her family member suffering from chikungunya, Wise wasn’t deterred from her mission in Haiti.