Chikungunya Virus Makes Inroads into the Americas

Well, it's here. The mosquito-borne chikungunya virus finally trekked its way into the Western Hemisphere, arrived in the Americas, and has begun infecting Caribbean mosquitoes, confirming one of the worst fears of public health officials on this side of the prime meridian. This pathogen, notorious for its explosive outbreaks and debilitating joint pains, arrived on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin and has caused over 200 infections since December 5 of 2013. The outbreak marks the first time that chikungunya has been locally transmitted by native mosquitoes in the Americas. The multisyllabic chikungunya is the new kid on the arbovirus block, a promising member of a squad of up-and-coming arthropod-transmitted viruses that are gaining ever more attention thanks to climate change and globalization. Discovered in southern Tanzania in the early 1950s, it's tongue-twisting name derives from the Makonde of Tanzania and Mozambique, meaning "stooped walk," describing the hunched, protected stance of those suffering from the severely debilitating joint pain (1)(2). In Congo, the disease has earned the name “buka-buka,” meaning “broken-broken" (3). Infection with chikungunya virus via the bite of an infected mosquito results in an acute fever with throbbing, aching joint pain accompanied by a rash and muscle pains. Joints most commonly afflicted include the fingers, wrists, elbows, knees, ankles and toes (4). Chronic disabling joint pain following a bout of chikungunya is common and can last for months and even years.