On Tuesday, the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed the state's first locally acquired case of the mosquito-borne illness chikungunya in a resident of Cameron County. All previous cases in the state were found in residents who had travelled abroad.
The Texas resident fell ill in November 2015 and was diagnosed with a lab test in January. However, the case was not reported to local health officials until April. An investigation conducted by the Cameron County Department of Health and Human Services found that the patient had not travelled. The CDC confirmed the infection last month.
The last state to report local transmission of the chikungunya virus was Florida in 2014.
The most common symptoms related to the virus are fever and joint pain. Learn more about chikungunya here.
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