{"id":31236,"date":"2014-06-11T21:49:53","date_gmt":"2014-06-12T01:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=31236"},"modified":"2014-06-11T21:49:53","modified_gmt":"2014-06-12T01:49:53","slug":"chikungunya-fever-is-it-in-swfl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2014\/06\/chikungunya-fever-is-it-in-swfl\/","title":{"rendered":"Chikungunya Fever Is It In SWFL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-31237\" title=\"Mosquito\" src=\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Mosquito-300x226.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Mosquito-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Mosquito-1024x772.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Mosquito.jpg 1719w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Chikungunya fever<\/strong> (CHIK) is an infection caused by the Chikungunya virus (CHIKV). The virus is spread through the bite of an infected mosquito, similar to West Nile and dengue viruses. The Chikungunya virus was first identified during an outbreak in 1952 in southern Tanzania, although it is suspected to have been present in Africa and Asia for much longer. It is not currently found in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Chikungunya virus is spread by two mosquito species:\u00a0Aedes aegypti(primarily) and\u00a0Aedes albopictus, <strong>both found in Florida<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>While the virus is not currently found in the state, introductions are possible if a CHIKV infected visitor or returning traveler is bitten by Florida mosquitoes in the early stages (the first week) of their illness. Infected mosquitoes can then spread the virus to other people they bite.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><!--more-->Prevention<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The same actions to prevent other mosquito borne illness such as dengue and West Nile virus disease are effective for preventing CHIK. While traveling in areas where CHIK, dengue or other mosquito borne diseases are present remember to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>use EPA approved repellants such as DEET<\/li>\n<li>wear comfortable clothing that protects skin from mosquito bites<\/li>\n<li>select hotels or other residences with intact window and door screens<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Signs and Symptoms<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An infected person will typically become ill three to seven days after the mosquito bite, but symptoms can begin anywhere from two to 12 days post-bite. These symptoms can last 3-10 days. Up to 28% of people who are infected will not have any symptoms (asymptomatic), although they can still be infectious to mosquitoes for a short time if bitten. Persons at greatest risk for severe illness include newborn infants, those over 65 years of age, and those who have other health conditions. Treatment is symptomatic or supportive.<\/p>\n<p>Symptoms may include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sudden high fever (usually &gt;102\u00ba F) which may be continuous or intermittent<\/li>\n<li>Severe joint pain that commonly involves the hands and feet<\/li>\n<li>Joint swelling<\/li>\n<li>Back pain<\/li>\n<li>Rash usually 2-5 days after fever starts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Other symptoms may include headache, body ache, nausea, vomiting, and redness around the eyes. In unusual cases, infection can involve the brain, eyes, heart, kidney and other organs.<\/p>\n<p>Fatal infections are rare, however many patients have chronic joint pain, arthritis, loss of energy and depression lasting weeks to years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chikungunya fever (CHIK) is an infection caused by the Chikungunya virus (CHIKV). The virus is spread through the bite of an infected mosquito, similar to West Nile and dengue viruses.&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":31237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31236"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}