Chikungunya virus may be coming to a city near you - learn the facts

The mosquito-borne chikungunya virus has been the subject of increasing attention as it spreads throughout South America, Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico. This painful and potentially debilitating disease is predicted to soon spread to the U.S.

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston's Scott Weaver, globally recognized for his expertise in mosquito-borne diseases, has been studying chikungunya for more than 15 years. Weaver and fellow infectious disease expert Marc Lecuit of the Institut Pasteur have summarized currently available information on this disease in the March 26 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Since chikungunya was first identified in1952 in present-day Tanzania, the virus has been confirmed in other African countries, Asia, The South Pacific and Europe. In Dec. 2013, the first locally acquired case of chikungunya in the Americas was reported in the Caribbean.

Since then, chikungunya has been identified in 44 countries or territories throughout the Americas with more than 1.3 million suspected cases reported to the Pan American Health Organization from affected areas.

Symptoms appear about three days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. The most common symptoms and signs are fever and severe joint pain and may include headache, arthritis, muscle pain, weakness and rash. Some patients will feel better within a week but others develop longer-term joint pain that can last weeks to years. Death is rare but can occur. People at increased risk for severe disease include young children, older adults and people with medical conditions such as diabetes or heart disease.

Other than anti-inflammatory drugs to control symptoms and joint swelling, there are no specific therapies to treat infected persons and no licensed vaccines to prevent chikungunya fever.

What is chikungunya virus?

The virus is mainly "spread from person to person through mosquitoes," says Kristy Murray, DVM, PhD, an infectious disease specialist in Houston.

It's pronounced "chik-en-gun-ye."

''It's an African word, and it translates to 'that which bends up,'" Murray says, because people bend up with joint pain, one of the most common symptoms.

Where did it come from, and how does it spread?

Scientists believe the virus originated in 1952 in southern Tanzania. Chimpanzees or other animals were probably first infected, says Amesh Adalja, MD, an infectious disease specialist in Pittsburgh.

Mosquitoes that bit these animals became infected, then bit and infected people.

The virus can stay in a person's system for about a week, according to the World Health Organization.