INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A mosquito-borne virus that has quickly
spread through the Caribbean has been confirmed in a Fort Wayne-area
resident who recently traveled to that region, Indiana health officials
said Monday.
The chikungunya virus detected in Allen County
doesn’t often cause death, but symptoms — including high fever and joint
pain — can be severe, according to the Indiana State Department of
Health.
Other symptoms include headache, muscle pain, joint
swelling or rash, the agency said. Most patients feel better within a
week, but joint pain can persist for months, it said.
People at
risk for more severe symptoms include newborns, adults over age 65 and
people with medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes or
heart disease, it said.
"We expected the epidemic in the Caribbean
to cause some travel-related cases here in Indiana," Jennifer Brown, a
public health veterinarian at the health department, said in a news
release. "We encourage all Hoosiers to take precautions against mosquito
bites at home and while traveling."
The health department says
people who develop these symptoms after traveling to the Caribbean or
other areas where chikungunya is found should immediately contact a
health care provider.
As of May 30, the Pan American Health
Organization has recorded more than 100,000 confirmed and suspected
cases of chikungunya since the first locally transmitted case in the
Caribbean in December.
The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention says the only locally transmitted case in the U.S. has
occurred in Puerto Rico. As of last week, 27 travel-related cases also
have been confirmed in Florida and seven other states, the CDC said.
Chikungunya
can be transmitted from a sick person to a healthy person by the bite
of an infected mosquito, and health officials urged Indiana residents to
take precautions.