Caribe mystery virus

[Cheechako]

I see there is a painful mystery virus affecting thousands in the carribean. Anyone else heard of it?

[Hannah on 'Rita T']

Yep, chikungunya, caught it, probably from a mosquito bite in St. Barth's. Painful joints, high, high fever, you think it goes away and then it comes back. But once it is gone, you are immune. use bug spray, folks. Hannah on Rit aT

[Cotemar]

Chikungunya is not a new virus or mysterious one. It is a mosquito-borne illness.

Stealthy, Debilitating Disease Is Poised to Sweep the U.S. — NOVA Next | PBS

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

Chikungunya is not a new virus or mysterious one. It is a mosquito-borne illness.

Stealthy, Debilitating Disease Is Poised to Sweep the U.S. — NOVA Next | PBS

Good link. Though it's not a new virus, it had been restricted to a small region in Africa and now it's spreading to areas that have no immunity to it. The expectation is that tropical borne diseases that had been fairly isolated in the past, will become much more virulent and widespread in the future as global climate conditions continue to change. When 200,000 people are infected out of the 750,000 population on La Reunion, that seems like a significantly high rate. Something like that makes health experts a little nervous...

[roverhi]

It's not global warming, climate change, or whatever they are calling it today that is causing the spread of tropical diseases. it's Boeing and Airbus. They've made world wide travel in hours possible for carriers of disease from formerly remote areas.