More than 2,300 Americans caught a mosquito-borne illness known as chikungunya virus in 2014while travelling to the Caribbean and other tropical countries, according to the New York Daily News.
Of the thousands of individuals infected, nearly 700 of them are from New York state, which is too far north for the mosquitoes that carry the virus to travel.
Nearly a dozen people in Florida also contracted the illness, but did so without traveling to the Caribbean or another tropical locale, worrying experts that the disease could spread in the southern U.S.
Highlighted below are eight things to know about the virus, as outlined by the New York Daily News.
- Chikungunya can cause a fever, rash and severe joint pain that can linger for months and even years.
- Symptoms usually appear about three to seven days after being bitten.
- There is no vaccine or cure for the chikungunya virus but physicians can provide supportive care and anti-inflammatory medication.
- The CDC recommends travelers wear long sleeved shirts and pants, apply bug repellent and avoid areas with stagnant water.
- The virus cannot spread from person to person, it is transmitted via mosquitoes and mosquito bites.
- In addition to the Americans infected, cases of the virus have been reported in 27 Caribbean countries.
- Actress Lindsay Lohan said she contracted the virus during a vacation in French Polynesia in December.
- The last large outbreak of chikungunya was two years ago, when roughly a million people in the Caribbean and Latin America were infected.
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