New York confirms first locally acquired chikungunya case
Health officials in New York confirmed on Tuesday that a Long Island resident has contracted chikungunya, marking the state’s first locally transmitted case of the mosquito-borne virus.
The patient had not recently traveled to areas where the disease is common, indicating the infection was acquired within the state, News.Az reports, citing The New York Times.
The announcement came after the state’s public health laboratory in Albany, the Wadsworth Center, conducted confirmatory testing, a process that took more than two weeks.
“We urge everyone to take simple precautions to protect themselves and their families from mosquito bites,” Dr. James McDonald, the state health commissioner, said in a statement.
In late September, The New York Times reported that a 60-year-old woman in Hempstead, a hamlet about 20 miles east of Manhattan, had tested positive for the virus in a preliminary screening test. The woman said in an interview with The Times in September that she had not recently traveled outside Long Island. Tuesday night’s announcement from state health officials appears to be referring to her.
Chikungunya is known for causing severe joint pain, which can clear up quickly or linger for months or even years, leaving some people unable to work or resume their old lives. Symptoms also include fevers, rash and muscle pain.
Chikungunya cases have surged worldwide this year, with China facing its largest outbreak since the first cases in that country were detected in 2008.
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