Chikungunya fever is spread from person to person through mosquito bites. Symptoms include fever, headache, severe muscle and joint pain, and a rash. There is no vaccine to prevent the disease, and pain medication is
the main treatment.

A mosquito-borne virus that has spread throughout the world since first being identified in Africa in 1953 has now reached the U.S. shores and there is fear that the disease is potentially worse than West Nile virus, which has killed 1,663 Americans since 1999.

Four cases of the illness, Chikungunya fever, have been confirmed in Florida through the end of May this year. It is being reported that all four victims had been traveling in the Caribbean when they became infected.

Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on a person already infected with the virus. Infected mosquitoes can then spread the virus to other people through subsequent bites.

Symptoms of Chikungunya include fever, headache, severe muscle and joint pain, and a rash. There is no vaccine to prevent the disease, and pain medication is the main treatment.

The disease is now found in 25 countries in Africa and 19 countries in Asia, including China and India. Two European nations, Italy and France, have reported cases of Chikungunya. In Italy alone, 130 cases were confirmed in an outbreak during September 2007.

In the Americas, the disease is found throughout the Caribbean islands. The first locally transmitted case of Chikungunya in that region was recorded in December of 2013. Since then there have been an estimated 60,000 suspected cases of Chikungunya across the Caribbean.

Chikungunya is most commonly transmitted by the mosquito species Aedes aegypti that is found in at least 23 U.S. southern and east coast states. The species was also found in California for the first time in 2013.

The female of the species is dark-colored with a row of white polka dots along its side. It tends to bite humans and mammals during the day.

"The Aedes aegypti mosquito can breed in a tablespoon of standing water that remains for as little as one week," said Jonathan Cohen, mosquito control expert and president of Summit Responsible Solutions®, manufacturer of Mosquito Dunks®, a biological mosquito control product. "The most effective way to control mosquitoes is at the larval stage prior to their emergence as flying, biting adults."

Because Aedes aegypti mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water, Cohen advises to be vigilant in eliminating places where water can collect in yards and gardens. To reduce mosquito populations:

• Drain water from garbage cans, house gutters, buckets, pool covers, coolers, flowerpots or any other containers where water has collected.


• Remove and discard old tires, drums, bottles, cans, pots and pans, broken appliances and other items left outdoors that can collect water.


• Empty and clean birdbaths and pet water bowls at least once or twice a week.


• Protect boats and vehicles from rain with tarps that don't accumulate water.


• Maintain swimming pools in good condition with appropriate chlorination. Empty the water from children's swimming pools when not in use.


• Treat water that cannot be emptied, such as in ponds, fountains, drain lines, ditches and wherever
  water collects.