MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) –The first domestically contracted cases of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus have been reported in Brazil, the country’s Health Ministry stated in a statement published online.
“The Ministry of Health informs of two cases of chikungunya fever registered … with no record of international travel [by the infected people] to countries where disease transmission occurs,” the Brazilian Health Ministry said Tuesday.
According to the statement, the victims contracted chikungunya in the country. That is the first of its kind as the 37 previously reported cases this year were caused by contractions abroad.
The Health Ministry said the government would "step up control measures" to fight the spread of the disease. It has already informed health authorities and communities to the possibility of further cases of contraction and plans to spray hatcheries of the Aedes aegypti dengue-transmitting mosquito with pesticides.
The disease is very similar to dengue and is transmitted by the same Aedes genus of mosquitos. Chikungunya, which has been reported in nearly 40 countries, is rarely fatal but its symptoms include high fever, joint swelling, pain, nausea, headache, rash and fatigue. Once typical only for Africa and Southeast Asia, in 2014 the cases of infection have risen dramatically up to more than half-a-million in August.
