Break Out the DEET

It's always something.  Health officials are warning that another nasty mosquito-borne virus may be headed to the U.S.  What I have read suggests this may be inevitable.

Here's the background.

Chikungunya virus has infected thousands of Carribean islanders this winter. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has identified more than 2,600 probable and confirmed cases, more than 7,800 suspected cases and three deaths.

(The numbers are squishy because confirmation requires blood analysis that often is not performed or even available for every case.)

The first local transmission was confirmed on St. Martin in December.  "Local transmission" means the offending bite was administered by a native mosquito, not one ecountered on a trip to another country.  Since then, the virus has been identified on other islands and in French Guiana.

Symptoms are quite unpleasant --  severe joint pain and fever, as well as muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash -- and can last as long as 12 days.   An unlucky few are sick for months and may suffer ocular, neurological, cardiac or intestinal damage.  For the frail, chikungunya can be a contributing cause of death.

Since it was first discovered and named in in Tanzania in 1952, chikungunya has spread to mosquitoes in Europe, Asia and much of South America.

The worry now is that the virus could gain a toehold in the U.S.  This is because it can be transmitted by humans to mosquitoes as well as the other way around.  So, if you came home from Anguilla with chikungunya -- and I sincerely hope you do not -- you could pass the virus along to the mosquitoes that bite you this summer.

After this year's nasty cold winter, no doubt many Americans will be seeking a well-deserved respite in the Carribean.  When they come home, they will find public officials paying special attention to mosquito control in anticipation of this summer's hot weather.

I wish them luck.  In my experience, mosquito bites, at least a few of them, are a feature of every summer experience.  Chikungunya may become one more thing we have to accept, like West Nile virus, Lyme ticks and the Hanta virus.

Alas.