American mosquitoes for the first time are spreading the chikungunya virus, might be the end of Obama care.

Just imagine life once Chikungunya gets hold in the US Swamps!

American mosquitoes for the first time are spreading the chikungunya virus, might be the end of Obama care. (RT).

American mosquitoes for the first time are spreading the chikungunya (chik-en-GUN-ye) virus that was once confined to the Caribbean and tropical Americas. There is presently no cure for the infection, which causes symptoms similar to dengue fever, including severe joint pain and swelling, muscle aches, headaches and fever.

Incurable chikungunya spreads in US

Health officials say the introduction in Florida of the painful disease, which has infected thousands across the Caribbean this year, is the first time that individuals in the continental United States are believed to have contracted the virus without traveling abroad.

"The arrival of chikungunya virus, first in the tropical Americas and now in the United States, underscores the risks posed by this and other exotic pathogens," said Roger Nasci of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in a prepared statement.

The two infected Floridians were described as a 41-year-old woman in Miami-Dade County who first noticed symptoms on June 10, and a 50-year-old man in Palm Beach County, who experienced symptoms on July 1. Officials said both are doing well.

Florida Department of Health confirms first locally acquired cases of Chikungunya Fever: http://t.co/g4N0RJUGPH #DrainAndCover#CHIKV
— Florida Dept. Health (@HealthyFla) July 17, 2014

With so many people traveling between the US and the tropical Americas, medical officials said it was only a matter of time before the virus arrived in the continental United States.

“We’ve been anticipating this for some time,” Nasci said. “We don’t expect widespread sweeping outbreaks, but we do expect some local limited outbreaks to occur. What we don’t know is how many cases there will be.”

The infections occurred after a person was bitten by a mosquito carrying the chikungunya virus in the Caribbean. The person then traveled to Florida, where the individual was bitten by an uninfected mosquito, thereby allowing the illness to spread further.

On a truly amazing news day, Lisa Schnirring at CIDRAP has a fine report: US reports first locally acquired chikungunya cases. After summarizing the situation, the report continues:

The announcement today comes about 7 months after the first chikungunya cases were detected in the Western Hemisphere, the CDC said. The outbreak in the Caribbean region has sickened more than 355,000 people, with the number of new infections continuing to grow by roughly 40,000 cases each week. 

As a ripple effect, the United States—especially in Florida—and several other countries have reported a rising number of cases in travelers returning from outbreak areas, and health officials have boosted surveillance for the disease and warned that an infected patient can transmit the virus to mosquitoes, which can then transmit the disease to others through a bite.

This is not spread person-to-person. Hmmm.....I've been posting for months about chikungunya, if this gets hold and spreads like in the Caribbean it might 'break' the back of Obama care.