Video - Cuban Journalists Describe Obama's Conduct as "Pathetic," "Humiliating," But Visit a "Great Victory" for Cuba.

Video - Cuban Journalists Describe Obama's Conduct as "Pathetic," "Humiliating," But Visit a "Great Victory" for Cuba. (MEMRI).

Cuban journalists, asked by the Lebanese Mayadeen TV channel to sum up President Obama's visit to their country, were very critical of the U.S. president, accusing him of trying to stir up rebellion and "to pit the government and the people one against the other."

Journalist Rosa Miriam Elizalde said that the visit was a great victory for Cuba because it was the U.S. - and not Cuba - that had changed its rhetoric and position.

Journalist Iroel Sanchez, who described Obama's use of Cuban-Spanish words as "pathetic," concluded that relations with the U.S. would not change Cuba's anti-imperialistic culture. The interview aired on April 3, 2016.

Cuba Doesn’t Need United States: Fidel Castro lectures “Brother Obama”.

Cuba Doesn’t Need United States: Fidel Castro lectures “Brother Obama”. (Politico).

Cuba's revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has responded to United States President Barack Obama's visit to his country last week saying that "Cuba doesn't need the empire to give us anything."

In an opinion piece for the website Cuba Debate on Monday, the iconic revolutionary figure pointed out that "nobody should be under the illusion that the people of this noble and selfless country will surrender their rights and spiritual wealth that they have won with the development of education, science and culture,” under the Cuban Revolution.

He added that Cuba can "produce the food and material wealth we need through effort and intelligence of our people."

Fidel Castro expressed amazement at Obama's call during his visit to Cuba to simply "forget the past … look to the future," and referred to the "merciless blockade that has lasted almost 60 years" and to US attacks to overthrow the revolution via "mercenary attacks on ships and Cuban ports, an airliner full of passengers detonated in midair, mercenary invasions, multiple acts of violence."

Castro dismissed Obama’s comments during his visit to Cuba as “honey-coated” and said that Cubans “ran the risk of having a heart attack on hearing these words from the president of the United States”.

The former Cuban president positively referred to Obama's "humble origin" and his "natural intelligence," but said that he shouldn't put forward "theories about politics in Cuba."

The leader of the 1959 Cuban Revolution denounced the American President’s pro-democracy remarks as “syrupy.”


"Native populations do not exist at all in the minds of Obama," Castro wrote. "Nor does he say that racial discrimination was swept away by the Revolution; that retirement and salary of all Cubans were enacted by this before Mr. Barack Obama was 10 years old."

Referring to the 1961 failed invasion of the Bay of Pigs, Castro wrote of the US “mercenary force with cannons and armored infantry, equipped with aircraft ... trained and accompanied by warships and aircraft carriers in the US raiding our country. Nothing can justify this premeditated attack that cost our country hundreds of killed and wounded."

Castro referred also to Obama's invocation of both countries' role in the end of apartheid in South Africa, remarking upon his country's 1975 intervention in Angola backing the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola against other US-backed groups. Ridding apartheid South Africa of nuclear weapons "was not the goal of our solidarity," he wrote, "but [rather] to help the people of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and other fascist colonial rule of Portugal."

In referring to the origins of South Africa's nuclear weapons, Castro mentioned the "help that racist South Africa had received from [Ronald] Reagan and Israel."

"I do not know what Obama has to say on this story now," Castro wrote, adding, "although it is very doubtful that I knew absolutely nothing."

"My modest suggestion is to reflect and do not try now to develop theories about Cuban politics."
Cuba "has no need of gifts" from the United States, Castro concluded. "Our efforts will be legal and peaceful, because it is our commitment to peace and brotherhood of all human beings living on this planet."

The 1,500-word letter published, titled “Brother Obama”, was Castro’s first response to Obama’s three-day visit last week, in which the American president said he had come to bury the two countries’ history of cold war hostility.

The letter also mentions environmental abuse under the Spaniards and reviews the historical roles of Cuban independence heroes José Martí, Antonio Maceo and Máximo Gómez.

The former president ends his letter with a sort of “thanks but no thanks” to Obama’s offer of assistance.

The former president, 89, did not meet Obama during the March 20 visit which was the first by a sitting US president to travel to the island nation in nearly 90 years.

The meeting between Cuba and the US presidents in Havana was seen as a step towards the normalization of bilateral relations. However, numerous issues remain before full normalization can be reached including the ending of the US blockade on Cuba and the return of the Guantanamo Bay.

Castro, who led Cuba for decades before handing power to his brother in 2008, was legendary for his hours-long, all-encompassing speeches.

Video - Communism refuses to embrace Change. Obama's Awkward moment with Castro

"No You Can't" - Obama's Intent to Remove Cuba From Terrorism List Unjustified - Legislators.

"No You Can't" - Obama's Intent to Remove Cuba From Terrorism List Unjustified - Legislators. (SP).

US President Barack Obama’s decision to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST) list lacs justification, US legislators said. 

"For Cuba to be removed from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, it must demonstrate changed behaviour through verifiable actions, not empty rhetoric," US Senator Robert Menendez said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Cuba remains as repressive today as ever and is undeserving of this potential newfound designation," he added.

Earlier on Tuesday, Obama notified the US Congress about his intention to revoke Cuba’s state sponsor of terrorism designation.

Menendez argued that Obama’s decision sends the wrong message to other state sponsors of terrorism such as Iran and Sudan. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said removing Cuba from the SST list would empower the Cuban government while leaving ordinary people oppressed.

"[T]he Obama administration has indicated its intent to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terror list, but this is being done only for political reasons and not in accordance with the law," Ros-Lehtinen added.

US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce noted that the White House took the "big step" without consulting Congress.

"The Committee will be interested to hear from the White House how Cuba’s support for radical groups in the region, safe harbor for American fugitives — including one of the FBI’s ‘Most Wanted Terrorists’ — and international weapons trafficking justifies today’s move," Royce said. Hmmm......Never met a US enemy he did not like.

Chikungunya in the Caribbean: It's been here before.

Chikungunya in the Caribbean: It's been here before.HT: Crof.

Via Emerging Infectious Diseases: Reappearance of Chikungunya, Formerly Called Dengue, in the Americas. The abstract:

After an absence of ≈200 years, chikungunya returned to the American tropics in 2013. The virus is maintained in a complex African zoonotic cycle but escapes into an urban cycle at 40- to 50-year intervals, causing global pandemics. 

In 1823, classical chikungunya, a viral exanthem in humans, occurred on Zanzibar, and in 1827, it arrived in the Caribbean and spread to North and South America. In Zanzibar, the disease was known as kidenga pepo, Swahili for a sudden cramp-like seizure caused by an evil spirit; in Cuba, it was known as dengue, a Spanish homonym of denga. 

During the eighteenth century, dengue (present-day chikungunya) was distinguished from breakbone fever (present-day dengue), another febrile exanthem. In the twentieth century, experiments resulted in the recovery and naming of present-day dengue viruses. 

In 1952, chikungunya virus was recovered during an outbreak in Tanzania, but by then, the virus had lost its original name to present-day dengue viruses.

Obama's BFF Cuba gives its 'unconditional support' to Venezuela against US.

Obama's BFF Cuba gives its 'unconditional support' to Venezuela against US. (DS).

HAVANA: Cuba Tuesday offered its "unconditional support" to Venezuela after U.S. President Barack Obama authorized new sanctions against senior officials of the South American oil producer, Havana's closest ally.

An official statement published in the island's state-run media called Obama's executive order implementing the sanctions "arbitrary and aggressive."

"Cuba again reiterates its unconditional support and that of our people for the Bolivarian Revolution, the legitimate government of President Nicolas Maduro, and the heroic brotherly people of Venezuela," the statement said.

The Cuban reaction marked its first public confrontation with the United States since the two countries began discussions in December on fully restoring diplomatic relations.

"No one has the right to intervene in the internal affairs of a sovereign state or to declare, without foundation, someone a threat to national security," Cuba said.

It said the U.S. measures were "in reprisal for the measures adopted [by Venezuela] in defense of its sovereignty in the face of meddling acts by the governmental authorities and Congress of the United States."

Cuban leader Fidel Castro congratulated Maduro on his "brilliant and brave" stance against the U.S. in a letter also published Tuesday by the Cuban press. Hmmm....Never met an enemy of the US he did not embrace. Read the full story here.

Why Cuba & US relations improved? Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar Set Sights on Cuba’s Muslims.

Why Cuba and US relations improved? Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar Set Sights on Cuba’s Muslims. (CJR).

Why 4,000 Muslims on a Caribbean island mean so much the world’s leading purveyors of Islamic extremism and terrorism. By Ryan Mauro:

The Islamist governments of Turkey and Saudi Arabia see a growing Muslim community in Cuba and are acting quickly to ideologically lead it. The Saudis and Turks have separately asked for permission to build a mosque there. President Erdogan wants it to reflect the Ottoman Empire, the last Islamic caliphate that was abolished in 1924.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey are competing over who will build the mosque in Havana for the estimated 4,000 Muslims in Cuba. The Saudis originally expressed interest, but now the elected Islamist government of Turkey is bidding for it. Turkish President Erdogan says his country hopes to build elsewhere in Cuba if its application is rejected.

Saudi Arabia remains an extremist state and continues to promote Wahhabism, a very radical interpretation of Islam. The Saudis spendan estimated $3 billion a year promoting Wahhabism. It is a national security threat to have the Saudis shaping the Cuban-Muslim community only 90 miles away from Florida.

Turkey is no better. President Erdogan’s government is rolling back democratic freedoms, hosts a Hamas terrorist network and is a stalwart supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood. There is a scandal in Turkey over his intelligence service’s cover-up of its arming of Al-Qaeda in Syria.

The Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs says the envisioned mosque in Havana will be modeled after an Ottoman mosque in Istanbul. Its insistence that it builds the mosque without any other country’s involvement shows that this project isn’t about serving Cuban Muslims. It’s about indoctrinating the growing Cuban-Muslim community into following Turkish Islamism.

Turkey is also involved in Cuba through a terrorism-linked entity named the Humanitarian Relief Foundation. This group, based in Istanbul, is closely involved with Erdogan and his Islamist party. Over the summer, it registered people to be human shields for Hamas. The group is also linked to the scandal over Turkish intelligence’s arming of Al-Qaeda.

The IHH website says in an article all the way back in August 2012 that it is “sponsoring masjid [mosque] construction in Cuba.” IHH said hopes to “address the shortcoming of books on Islam in Spanish soon” and fly Cuban Muslims to Turkey for Islamic studies. The article says IHH delivered humanitarian aid and met with the Turkish and Saudi ambassadors there.

It’s worth reflecting on the importance of that article. The Cuban Muslim community is in need of texts to help it learn about Islam. The group that is stepping in to decide what those texts will be is openly radical and linked to the Hamas terrorist group, as well as the increasingly anti-Western government of Turkey.

The Islamist Turkish government is spreading its neo-Ottoman ideology by building mosques around the world, much as Saudi Arabia has done with Wahhabism. There are currently 18 large mosques being constructed by Turkey in the U.S., the Palestinian Territories, Somalia, the U.K., the Philippines, Russia and Central Asia.

Turkey is building the largest mosque in the Balkans in Albania. Erdogan does not hide that this was part of his neo-Ottoman project,declaring in an October 2013 speech, “Do not forget that Kosovo is Turkey and Turkey is Kosovo.”

Turkey is even constructing a 15-acre $100 million mega-mosque in Maryland that was endorsed by then-Governor O’Malley, who appears likely to run for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. The project is reported to “become [one of] the largest and most striking examples of Islamic architecture in the Western hemisphere.”

Erdogan’s government is also reaching out to Native American tribes. Turkey’s lobbyists in Washington, D.C. spent over $1 million in 2010 alone to pay for congressmen and Native American tribesmen to visit Turkey, according to Islamist-Watch, which broke the story. The director of the organization says Turkey’s strategy could cause “the Islamist ideology to spread like wildfire throughout Native American tribes.”

In addition, Erdogan is building the world’s biggest mosque in Turkey and a shipping canal rivaling the importance of the Panama Canal and Suez Canal. He is competing with Egypt by building a rival university that will “replace” Al-Azhar University as the leading Islamic authority. The overall agenda is one of aspiring domination where the Muslim world falls into the neo-Ottoman Islamist fold.

Read more at Clarion Project

Cuba could be removed as early as April from US' List of Sponsors of Terrorism.

The 'Easter Bunny' comes early this year.

Cuba could be removed as early as April from US' List of Sponsors of Terrorism.(telesurtv).

The move could happen as early as April paving the way for diplomatic embassies in Washington and Havana.

The United States responded positively to Cuba's call to be taken off from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, a condition put forward by Havana before embassies could be opened in their respective capitals.

Roberta Jacobson, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said on Friday during a press conference that her country is reviewing the terror list and will remove Cuba from it before April to pave the way for better ties between both nations.

"We are going to do that as quickly as we can in accordance with the requirements of the law, but we see that and the establishment of diplomatic relations as separate processes,” Jacobson said.

The Cuban government has insisted that diplomatic relations cannot exist while one country has the other one on a list of sponsors of terrorism.

"For us it would be difficult to explain that Cuba and the U.S. have re-established normal diplomatic relations while Cuba is kept in that list that we believe we have never belonged to," said Josefina Vidal, director of Cuban Foreign Ministry's North American affairs office, who is heading her country's delegation in the talks. Hmmm.....The fact that Cuba is still BFF with Russia is no prob at alll.....lets all sing 'kumbaya'. Read the full story here.

Russian intelligence warship moored in Havana on eve of US-Cuba talks.....(Free WiFi).

More pictures of #russiannavy Vishnya spy ship "Viktor Leonov" in Havana today pic.twitter.com/45rms0SD84
— 7FBTK (@7FBTK) January 20, 2015

Russian intelligence warship moored in Havana on eve of US-Cuba talks.(Yahoo).

A Russian intelligence warship docked in Havana on Tuesday, a day before the start of historic US-Cuba talks aimed at normalizing diplomatic relations.

There was nothing stealthy about the arrival of the Viktor Leonov CCB-175, which was moored to a pier in Old Havana where cruise ships often dock. But the visit was not officially announced by Cuban authorities.

US officials in Washington played down the presence of the Russian vessel, saying it was perfectly legal and not at all out of the ordinary.

"It's not unprecedented. It's not unusual. It's not alarming," a defense official told AFP.

The Vishnya or Meridian-class intelligence ship, which has a crew of around 200, went into service in the Black Sea in 1988 before it was transferred seven years later to the northern fleet, according to Russian media.

The vessel previously docked in Havana in February and March last year, staying there for a few days. Those visits were also unannounced.

The highest-level US delegation to visit Havana since 1980 arrives Wednesday for two days of talks aimed at normalizing diplomatic and immigration relations between the former Cold War foes.

The former Soviet Union was Cuba's main patron during the Cold War.

The Viktor Leonov is part of Russia’s Northern Fleet and is fitted with a wide range of intelligence equipment, a crew of 220 and high-tech electronics. Hmmm......The most 'transparent 'Admin' Evah.More here.

#Cuba offers free calls home, wifi to @statedept Roberta Jacobson @WHAAsstSecty and US delegates - tks Victor Leonov pic.twitter.com/JTHusa8Xbc
— Karl Penhaul (@karlpenhaul) January 20, 2015

Jamaica: Guillain-Barré syndrome cases spike with chikungunya.

Jamaica: Guillain-Barré syndrome cases spike with chikungunya. HT: Crof.

Via the Jamaica Observer: GBS cases spike with CHIKV. Excerpt:

The University Hospital of the West Indies in St Andrew saw about five cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) between October and November 2014. According to consultant neurologist Dr Francene Gayle, on average, she has seen one case of GBS per year since she has been at the health facility. 

The consultant neurologist told the Jamaica Observer that the chikungunya virus that swept across the island late last year and has left several with lingering joint pains caused a spike in the number of GBS cases. 

"I must tell you that, on average, since I have been back, I have been home three years, so on average, I see maybe one case of GBS per year at the University Hospital of the West Indies," Dr Gayle disclosed. 

"But with CHIKV, between October and November, we saw about five cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, so it resulted in a spike in the number of cases that we would normally see annually." 

GBS is a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. The symptoms generally include weakness and tingling in the limbs before spreading, and eventually resulting in paralysis. 

Speaking to Your Health Your Wealth in a recent interview, Dr Gayle said there are a few causes but the commonest cause is post-viral illness. The consultant neurologist explained that influenza as well as a particular bacteria known as campylobacter jejuni can bring on GBS. 

She also spoke specifically to the Jamaican context. "In our Jamaican context, chikungunya virus is also associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome," Dr Gayle said. "Viruses, on a whole, what they do is that your body mounts an attack against the infectious agent and, unfortunately, there are various proteins on the surface of the viruses that your immune system targets. 

"These same proteins have similar proteins on the nerve linings and so the antibodies that are produced to fight these viral infections can actually be mediated against those proteins on the nerves within the body," she continued. "And so the nerves get damaged as a bystander."

Lindsay Lohan battles Chikungunya virus, while the Caribbean are under assault by chikungunya in 2014.

Lindsay Lohan battles Chikungunya virus, while the Caribbean are under assault by chikungunya in 2014.. HT: Crof.


Sounds exotic. And not something you want to catch.

After Lindsay Lohan wrapped up her two-month run in Speed-the-Plow in London at the end of November, she was ready for some rest and relaxation.

She headed for someplace tropical. But the trip to paradise has soured a bit. During her French Polynesian trip with longtime friend Patrick Aufdenkamp, she contracted the Chikungunya virus.

She has been tweeting and Instagramming photos about her trip.

Being sick is no fun. But happy new year everyone. Be safe. Love all. Make a difference and keep your… http://t.co/V7i2F8KnTz
— Lindsay Lohan (@lindsaylohan) December 29, 2014

Before I got chikungunya 😥😰😪 use Big spray please 🙏 God bless. http://t.co/8xg2gNWBz5
— Lindsay Lohan (@lindsaylohan) December 28, 2014

Via Caribbean360.com: 2014 year in review: Caribbean rocked by Chikungunya. Excerpt:

Three general elections and continued socio-economic problems may have made the headlines in the Caribbean in 2014, but it was the Chikungunya virus, the mosquito borne disease that really caught the attention of the region over the past 12 months. 

In addition, while no cases had been recorded, Caribbean countries were putting in place various measures to deal with the deadly Ebola virus that have killed more than 7,000 people in West Africa and spread also by the same mosquito responsible for the Chikungunya virus. 

A crippling mosquito-borne virus with a tongue twisting name, Chikungunya first appeared in the Caribbean towards the end of 2013. But by the end of 2014, every Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country had recorded cases of the virus caused by the aedes aegypti mosquito that causes a dengue-like sickness. 

Symptoms include a sudden high fever, severe pain in the wrists, ankles or knuckles, muscle pain, headache, nausea, and rash. Joint pain and stiffness are more common with Chikungunya than with dengue. The symptoms appear between four to seven days after the bite of an infected mosquito. 

The Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) warned the Caribbean has not yet felt the “full impact” of the disease. 

“There is an estimate in excess of 600,000 cases in total, most of those being from the bigger countries like the Dominican Republic and Haiti with 37 deaths in total. So it continues to spread,” said CARPHA’s executive director Dr. James Hospedales. 

Dr. Hospedales said that with a population of 17 million people, the region is still in the early stages of the virus, warning “the full bloom of Chikungunya virus is yet to come. 

“I am saying because everybody in this part of the world and there is no resistance to this virus and we have an abundance of the vector and we have a lot of movement. In six months it has moved to all the islands and we can expect further increases in levels of cases because of what has happened elsewhere in the world where in some countries you find a 30 per cent attack rate of the entire population within a year or so.”

More in detail info on Chikungunya can be read here. 

Mexico detects first case of mosquito-borne chikungunya virus

Mexico detects first case of mosquito-borne chikungunya virus. HT: Crof.

Via Reuters: Mexico detects first case of mosquito-borne chikungunya virus. Excerpt:

Mexico has detected its first domestic case of the painful mosquito-borne viral disease chikungunya in the southwest of the country, the state government of Chiapas said on Saturday. 

Chikungunya is spread by two mosquito species, and is typically not fatal. But it can cause debilitating symptoms including fever, headache and severe joint pain lasting months. 

The government of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, said an 8 year old girl became the first person to contract the disease in Mexico, and that she was treated in hospital in the town of Arriaga. The girl has since been released. 

There is no commercial vaccine for the virus, which was detected for the first time in the Americas late last year. 

Chikungunya has already appeared in much of the Caribbean, Central America and the United States. A handful of people have had the virus in Mexico, having contracted it abroad. 

In September, El Salvador said it had detected nearly 30,000 cases of the virus. In the United States, locally transmitted infections - as opposed to infections in Americans traveling abroad - were reported for the first time this year.

'Islamist Turkey' - President Erdoğan says America was discovered by Muslims, not Columbus.

'Islamist Turkey' - President Erdoğan says America was discovered by Muslims, not Columbus. (HD).

America was discovered by Muslims, not by Christopher Columbus, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has claimed, vowing to build a mosque in Cuba if the authorities of the Caribbean nation grants the permit.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of First Latin AmericanMuslim leaders summit in Istanbul on Nov. 15, Erdoğan slammed colonialism before referring to a controversial claim about the discovery of the Americas.

"Muslim sailors had arrived in the shores of America in 1178. In his diaries, Christopher Columbus referred to the presence of a mosque on top of a mountain in Cuba," Erdoğan said, claiming the diary is a proof that "the religion of Islam was widespread" when the first European explorer discovered the New World in 1492.

Dr. Youssef Mroueh of the As-Sunnah Foundation of America had publicized the claim about a pre-Columbus mosque in Cuba. In 1996, he wrote that "Columbus admitted in his papers that on Monday, October 21, 1492 CE while his ship was sailing near Gibara on the north-east coast of Cuba, he saw a mosque on top of a beautiful mountain."

Some Muslim scholars aside, the same diary entry is widely understood as a metaphoric reference to a protuberance on the summit of a mountain that resembles a mosque's dome or minaret. Moreover, although the first "widespread" habitation of the Americas is dated around 16,500–13,000 years ago, a pre-Columbian ruin of an Islamic structure has yet to be discovered.

"Converting people by force, by the sword, has never been a part of Islam. Our religion has never been a tool of exploitation," Erdoğan continued, arguing that "those who colonialized America for its gold and Africa for its diamonds, now do it in the Middle East for its oil with the same dirty plot."

Turkish President also criticized certain Muslims. "And do rich Muslims in the Islamic world pay their zakat for their oil revenues?" Erdoğan asked rhetorically, before saying that "nobody can answer this question positively."

Zakat is the religiously-sanctioned benefits paid to poor Muslims by the wealthy.

"Muslims should first criticize and correct themselves. Then, we should be subjects to nobody but Allah," Turkish President said. Hmmm........Seems like the 'Caliph' wants to Rule the Saudis as well.

WHO on chikungunya in France, 4 cases of chikungunya locally-acquired infection.

WHO on chikungunya in France, 4 cases of chikungunya locally-acquired infection. HT: Crof.

WHO has published Chikungunya – France. Excerpt:

On 21 October 2014, WHO was notified by the National IHR Focal Point for France of 4 cases of chikungunya locally-acquired infection in Montpellier, France. The cases were confirmed by tests conducted by the French National Reference Laboratory for arboviruses on 20 October 2014. This is the first time that locally-acquired transmission of chikungunya has been detected in France since 2010. 

The 4 cases of chikungunya infection occurred within the same family, with symptoms onset between 20 September and 12 October. The cases live in Montpellier in the vicinity of a chikungunya case imported from Cameroon. The cases have no history of travel out of their district of residence in the 15 days prior to the onset of symptoms.

Chikungunya is a viral disease that is rarely fatal and is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. Symptoms of chikungunya include high fever and headache, with significant pains in the joints (ankles, wrists), which can persist for several weeks.

The symptoms appear between 4 and 7 days after the patient has been bitten by an infected mosquito.

The name, chikungunya derives from a word in Makonde language roughly meaning “that which bends up”, reflecting the physique of a person suffering from the disease.

First local chikungunya case reported in Costa Rica.

First local chikungunya case reported in Costa Rica. HT: Crof.

Via The Costa Rican Times: 1st Indigenous Case of Chikungunya in Costa Rica Reported. Excerpt:

This afternoon I went to do my dishes and in one of my plastic cups was a dead Aedes mosquito. It was the first time I had actually seen one not in a picture. Dengue & Chikungunya are the only things that frighten me about living in Costa Rica. 

The first reported case of the Chikungunya virus that was confirmed to originate within the borders of Costa Rica has come to pass. 

There have been other Chikungunya victims, but they all acquired the virus overseas before coming to Costa Rica. 

The first case of the Chikunguna Virus being caught on Costa Rican soil occurred  in Parrita in the Puntarenas Province which is located about 30 minutes from Jaco. 

The woman who tested positive for the first indigenous case of the virus was tended to by officials of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund. The Costa Rican Institute for Research and Education on Nutrition and Health performed the test. 

The other 15 victims found to have the virus in Costa Rica came from the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The local woman became sick after hosting a Dominican at her home. This guest was sick but the symptoms went unaddressed. 

The government plans to spray in areas where the patient was, to kill the mosquitoes that might infect others.

Hmmm....I've been posting quite a bit about Chikungunya these last months because i see a huge threat to the US, when this arrives in the US Wetlands.More on chik-V here and here.

Eurosurveillance: "Unprecedented" concurrent outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya, Zika virus in the Pacific

Eurosurveillance: "Unprecedented" concurrent outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya, Zika virus in the Pacific. HT: Crof.

Via Eurosurveillance: Concurrent outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus infections - unprecedented epidemic wave of mosquito-borne viruses in the Pacific 2012-2014. The abstract:

Since January 2012, the Pacific Region has experienced 28 new documented outbreaks and circulation of dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus. 

These mosquito-borne disease epidemics seem to become more frequent and diverse, and it is likely that this is only the early stages of a wave that will continue for several years. 

Improved surveillance and response measures are needed to mitigate the already heavy burden on island health systems and limit further spread to other parts of the world. 

Hmmm....In case you are wondering which mosquitoes carry Chikungunya....The same type that carry West Nile virus, north America be warned!

Hmmm....I've been posting quite a bit about Chikungunya these last months because i see a huge threat to the US, when this arrives in the US Wetlands. More on chik-V here and here.

PAHO: Almost 800,000 chikungunya case as of October 17 (it says here)

The Pan American Health Organization has posted its regular Friday update on chikungunya in the Caribbean and neighboring nations. 

We are now up to epidemiological week 42, but some countries are weeks if not months behind. If not for Ebola taking all the attention, this would be a big scandal.


The regional total is 759,742 suspected cases, plus 12,327 confirmed, plus 1,708 imported. But the Dominican Republic is still at week 38 (486,306 suspected cases, just 84 confirmed). Next door, Haiti hasn't bothered to report since week 28, so we know of only 64,695 cases when the true number must be closer to a million.

So it goes, week after week with no explanation. Download the PDF if you like, but don't bother to print it out. Paper is more valuable.

Jamaica: 10-year-old dies from chikungunya complications.

Jamaica: 10-year-old dies from chikungunya complications. HT: Crof.

Chikungunya continues to spread in the Caribbean. The Jamaicans are taking it especially badly, and have invented their own term for it. Via the Jamaica Observer: 10-year-old dies from ChikV complications.

A 10-year-old student of the Alpha Primary School in Kingston died Friday as a result of complications brought on by the chikungunya virus, the Education Ministry has confirmed. 

A ministry release Friday afternoon said that Akaliah Anderson, who had reported to school for only one day (September 1, 2014), had revealed symptoms of the chikungunya virus. 

It was reported that her condition had not improved and she was subsequently admitted to the hospital. She reportedly developed further complications including a swollen spleen and liver. 

Little Akaliah died Friday. 

The Education Ministry said it was saddened by Akaliah’s death and extended condolences to her family and school community.  

A team of counsellors from the ministry will be providing emotional support to Akaliah’s family, students, teachers and administrative staff at the institution, the release said. 

“This incident brings into sharp focus the need for school administrators, parents and the entire citizenry of Jamaica to begin the clean-up process in our communities – home, school, workplaces – in order to eliminate the spread of the ChikV caused by the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes,” Education Minister Ronald Thwaites said.

Hmmm....I've been posting quite a bit about Chikungunya these last months because i see a huge threat to the US, when this arrives in the US Wetlands. More on chik-V here and here.

Update:

PAHO: Almost 800,000 chikungunya case as of October 17 (it says here)

The Pan American Health Organization has posted its regular Friday update on chikungunya in the Caribbean and neighboring nations. 

We are now up to epidemiological week 42, but some countries are weeks if not months behind. If not for Ebola taking all the attention, this would be a big scandal.


The regional total is 759,742 suspected cases, plus 12,327 confirmed, plus 1,708 imported. But the Dominican Republic is still at week 38 (486,306 suspected cases, just 84 confirmed). Next door, Haiti hasn't bothered to report since week 28, so we know of only 64,695 cases when the true number must be closer to a million.

So it goes, week after week with no explanation. Download the PDF if you like, but don't bother to print it out. Paper is more valuable.

Jamaica in "national emergency" due to chikungunya outbreak

Jamaica in "national emergency" due to chikungunya outbreak. HT: Crof.

I've been aware of this problem, but Ebola keeps crowding it out. Via the Caribbean Journal: Jamaica in “National Emergency” Due to Chikungunya Virus Outbreak. Excerpt:

Jamaica Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller says the country is in a “national emergency” over the outbreak of the mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus in the country. 

The virus, which is similar in symptoms to Dengue fever, often leads to fever and severe joint pain that can last from a few days to, in some cases, for years, though it is rarely fatal. 

The disease has spread across the Caribbean region after initially appearing in St Martin in late 2013, but has hit Jamaica particularly hard. 

“I want to stress that we are in a NATIONAL emergency,” Simpson Miller said at a briefing on Tuesday. “I have therefore, assumed a lead role in mobilizing the nation and national resources.” 

She said she sympathized with those across Jamaica who had come down with the painful illness. 

“I understand that some MPs even as we speak are out with the virus,” she said. “I want to commend MPs, Mayors and Councillors who have been active in encouraging your constituents to get involved in the only sustainable way to control and reduce the epidemic – which is, to destroy and reduce mosquito breeding sites.” 

She said the government had called on about $4.5 million USD in state resources for national health emergency response, with the objective of reducing mosquito breeding sites by starting with the worst-affected areas. 

“This is our country,” she said. “We all have a stake and a vested interest in protecting it and in keeping our people safe and healthy.”

According to PAHO, Jamaica last week had just 325 suspected cases, plus 52 confirmed and 2 imported. It sounds as if far more cases are involved than those. Hmmm....I've been posting quite a bit about Chikungunya these last months because i see a huge threat to the US, when this arrives in the US Wetlands.More on chik-V here and here.

Pan American Health organization 748,403 chikungunya cases as of October 10

Pan American Health organization 748,403 chikungunya cases as of October 10. HT: Crof.

PAHO has updated its Chikungunya numbers. (Click through the link and download the PDF in the upper right corner of the page.) It's becoming an increasingly irrelevant document.

Ostensibly this brings us up to week 41, and the total is now 748,403 (suspected) cases. They're suspected because no one bothers to test for it now.

But they're also suspect numbers because so many of them are weeks or even months behind.

The US *is at week 41, all right, with 11 locally acquired cases and 1,326 imported. But Canada hasn't troubled to report since week 32, when it had 8 imported cases.

Where the disease is rapidly spreading, the Dominican Republic counts 486,306—as of week 38. Haiti next door remains The Land That Time Forgot, stubbornly stuck in week 28 and 64,695 cases.

So it goes: Cuba, week 33; Puerto Rico, week 37; Dominica, week 28; Grenada, week 26. Colombia is almost up to date at week 40 and 6,092 cases, as is Ecuador with just one imported case. Jamaica's at week 40 with 325 cases, but given the "Chik-V" political uproar there, the real number must be much higher.

The disparity in updates might be tolerable if PAHO at least bothered to explain why some countries don't report promptly. 

Three-quarters of a million cases since last December? I wouldn't be surprised if the true number were double that or even higher.

*Hmmm.....Just think when Chik-V gets hold in the U.S. Wetlands.

Haiti: 50% of the population could be affected by the chikungunya epidemic

Haiti: 50% of the population could be affected by the chikungunya epidemic. HT: Crof.

Via HaitiLibre.com: 50% of the population could be affected by the chikungunya epidemic. Excerpt and then a comment:

The chikungunya epidemic, which began in late 2013 in the Americas, was detected for the first time in Haiti in May and its rapid spread has led the Haitian government to officially declare a medical emergency. 

To date, Haiti has recorded more than 65,000 cases of chikungunya and those responsible for public health, estimate that up to 50% of the population could be affected by the epidemic. 

Unlike many other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, no vaccine is available to prevent chikungunya. Common symptoms include fever and joint pain, which can be severe and disabling. 

On Wednesday, the First Lady, Sophia Martelly, visited accompanied by Dr. Florence Guillaume, Minister of Public Health and Population (MSPP) and Dr. George Dubuche, the Director General of the Ministry, went to the Direct Relief warehouse in Port-au-Prince, where drugs to treat one million people will be distributed to 904 public health sites to the population, and others Direct Relief partner hospitals. 

The shipment contains more than 6.1 million Defined Daily Doses of pain relievers, oral rehydration packs, antibiotics, IV solution, malaria tablets, and mosquito spray. This distribution comes in the midst of a rainy season, expected to cause a wave of new cases.

In other words, over five million people could fall ill with chikungunya in Haiti.

Others affected would be the family members who depend on the income and care of relatives who fall ill. Economically, chikungunya may do more damage than cholera has after almost four years: at least 706,291 cases and 8,584 deaths. (Typically, those are MSPP's latest numbers—from August 27.)

Hmmm....I know i'm one of the few who posts about Chikungunya, but if this gets hold in the US wetlands you'll see an epidemic of biblical proportions. Read up on it and prepare.