Commonground
Senior Moderator
Sun, August 24, 2025
Dozens of cases of a potentially debilitating vector-borne disease have been identified in the United Kingdom this year, the BBC reports, almost twice as many as last year.
What's happening?
On the surface, this uptick in cases of chikungunya virus might not appear to be concerning in scale.
In all, 73 people in the U.K. contracted chikungunya, up from 27 in the same span of time in 2024 — a 170% increase in cases.
Chikungunya is a vector-borne illness, infecting humans through mosquito bites. Although it's rarely fatal, chikungunya's symptoms are not unlike dengue fever and Zika, including joint swelling, rashes, and fatigue.
-snip-
What's being done about it?
On August 18, Rep. Josh Gottheimer from New Jersey introduced a bipartisan bill, the Battling Infections Transmitted by Ticks and Exposure (BITE) Act.
It's one of three pieces of pending legislation focused on tick-borne disease, and would "create the world's first national response system for Lyme disease and other vector-borne illnesses."
He recommended treated mosquito nets for sleeping, covering exposed skin outdoors, and using insecticides as effective, simple precautions.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/health-officials-warn-epidemic-threat-235000423.html
Dozens of cases of a potentially debilitating vector-borne disease have been identified in the United Kingdom this year, the BBC reports, almost twice as many as last year.
What's happening?
On the surface, this uptick in cases of chikungunya virus might not appear to be concerning in scale.
In all, 73 people in the U.K. contracted chikungunya, up from 27 in the same span of time in 2024 — a 170% increase in cases.
Chikungunya is a vector-borne illness, infecting humans through mosquito bites. Although it's rarely fatal, chikungunya's symptoms are not unlike dengue fever and Zika, including joint swelling, rashes, and fatigue.
-snip-
What's being done about it?
On August 18, Rep. Josh Gottheimer from New Jersey introduced a bipartisan bill, the Battling Infections Transmitted by Ticks and Exposure (BITE) Act.
It's one of three pieces of pending legislation focused on tick-borne disease, and would "create the world's first national response system for Lyme disease and other vector-borne illnesses."
He recommended treated mosquito nets for sleeping, covering exposed skin outdoors, and using insecticides as effective, simple precautions.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/health-officials-warn-epidemic-threat-235000423.html
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