New York health officials confirm state’s first locally acquired case of chikungunya virus

A person living in New York tested positive for the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus in the first reported transmission within the US in six years, officials said on Tuesday.

The chikungunya virus is currently running rampant through China and other nearby countries, the New York Department of Health said. Now, it’s been identified in a person living in Nassau County on Long Island.

The Nassau County Health Department confirmed that the individual began experiencing symptoms in August after traveling outside of the region, but not out of the country. 

It’s not clear how the person contracted the virus, but health officials said that they were most likely bitten by an infected mosquito.

In late September, a 60-year-old woman in Nassau County who hadn’t traveled outside of her immediate area said that preliminary testing detected the virus in her blood. 

It’s unclear if the woman is the same patient the health departments are referring to. 

The state agency noted that the illness is rarely fatal and that most patients make a full recovery within a week.

However, typically vulnerable groups – newborns, older adults and those with chronic health conditions – are at a higher risk. 

Three other instances of the virus were recorded in the country earlier this year, but all the cases could be traced back to international travel through regions where chikungunya is prevalent, state health officials said.

So far, the virus hasn’t been detected in any local mosquito pools and there’s no evidence to indicate any sort of spread or outbreak, health officials assured.

However, the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, which carry the virus, are both present in parts of the New York City metropolitan area and Long Island. 

They can also transmit other dangerous diseases including the West Nile, Eastern Equine Encephalitis and Jamestown Canyon viruses.

Thankfully, the chikungunya virus can’t be spread directly from one person to another. Dropping temperatures, which push the mosquitoes into relative inactivity, is making the current risk of transmission “very low,” state Health Commissioner James McDonald said.

Chikungunya, which was last detected locally in 2019, is typically found in tropical and subtropical regions. Symptoms can include fever, joint pain, headache, muscle pain, joint swelling and rashes, according to the state health department.

With Post wires