Mosquito-borne fevers follow Americans home
Updated 11/20/2006 8:05 AM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-11-19-mosquito-borne-diseases_x.htm
International travelers can bring home dangerous diseases that pose a risk of spreading in the USA, scientists warn. Disease experts at a meeting last week in Atlanta of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene said two mosquito-borne diseases of the tropics are of concern. USA TODAY's Anita Manning interviewed the experts who explain the risks:
Dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever
(Pronounced DEN-gee)
Researchers Mary Hayden of the University of Colorado and Emily Zielinski-Gutierrez of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted blood tests among residents of Brownsville, Texas, which is close to the Mexican border. They found 2.5% had signs of recent dengue infection and 38% had signs of previous dengue infection. Of the latter, 11% had never been outside the USA, Hayden said, indicating they had been infected locally. The last dengue outbreak in that region was in 1999, she said, but the study shows "future outbreaks are likely in south Texas."
Every year, dengue is diagnosed in Americans who have traveled to areas where the disease is common, said epidemiologist Hamish Mohammed of the CDC. Between 1996 and 2005, he said, 1,167 cases were reported in Americans, most of whom had visited the Caribbean, Asia and Central America.
Dengue causes high fever and achiness that usually resolves on its own. A more severe form of the disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever, has similar symptoms but also causes bleeding both internally and from the nose and gums, and can lead to shock and death.
Chikungunya fever
(Pronounced CHICK-en-GUN-ya)
An outbreak has afflicted more than 1.1 million in India and about 300,000 people on islands of the Indian Ocean since March 2005. The CDC says more than 30 cases have been diagnosed in people in the USA who had visited areas where the outbreak is occurring, and cases also have been found in Europe and Canada.
Chikungunya virus causes sudden fever, headache and body aches, sometimes with rash. It is not thought to be fatal, but it causes severe joint pain that can persist for weeks or months.
Both dengue and chikungunya viruses are carried by mosquitoes called Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (also called Asian tiger mosquitoes) that are found in the USA, especially the South, researchers said.
They underscore the idea that bugs don't respect borders, said Edward Ryan, director of tropical medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, who was the scientific chair for the meeting. "So many individuals travel globally that infections can be introduced and sustained in new locations."
Updated 11/20/2006 8:05 AM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-11-19-mosquito-borne-diseases_x.htm
International travelers can bring home dangerous diseases that pose a risk of spreading in the USA, scientists warn. Disease experts at a meeting last week in Atlanta of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene said two mosquito-borne diseases of the tropics are of concern. USA TODAY's Anita Manning interviewed the experts who explain the risks:
Dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever
(Pronounced DEN-gee)
Researchers Mary Hayden of the University of Colorado and Emily Zielinski-Gutierrez of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted blood tests among residents of Brownsville, Texas, which is close to the Mexican border. They found 2.5% had signs of recent dengue infection and 38% had signs of previous dengue infection. Of the latter, 11% had never been outside the USA, Hayden said, indicating they had been infected locally. The last dengue outbreak in that region was in 1999, she said, but the study shows "future outbreaks are likely in south Texas."
Every year, dengue is diagnosed in Americans who have traveled to areas where the disease is common, said epidemiologist Hamish Mohammed of the CDC. Between 1996 and 2005, he said, 1,167 cases were reported in Americans, most of whom had visited the Caribbean, Asia and Central America.
Dengue causes high fever and achiness that usually resolves on its own. A more severe form of the disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever, has similar symptoms but also causes bleeding both internally and from the nose and gums, and can lead to shock and death.
Chikungunya fever
(Pronounced CHICK-en-GUN-ya)
An outbreak has afflicted more than 1.1 million in India and about 300,000 people on islands of the Indian Ocean since March 2005. The CDC says more than 30 cases have been diagnosed in people in the USA who had visited areas where the outbreak is occurring, and cases also have been found in Europe and Canada.
Chikungunya virus causes sudden fever, headache and body aches, sometimes with rash. It is not thought to be fatal, but it causes severe joint pain that can persist for weeks or months.
Both dengue and chikungunya viruses are carried by mosquitoes called Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (also called Asian tiger mosquitoes) that are found in the USA, especially the South, researchers said.
They underscore the idea that bugs don't respect borders, said Edward Ryan, director of tropical medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, who was the scientific chair for the meeting. "So many individuals travel globally that infections can be introduced and sustained in new locations."