- Hello, Jeff - This was bound to happen. Europeans
visit exotic destinations on holiday and bring back more than souvenirs,
they bring back diseases. The mosquito that vectors both Dengue and Chikungunya,
the Ae Albopictus is found in Italy and now it appears the mosquitos have
become infected with Chik virus.
-
- Chikungunya Virus Finds A Home In Italy
- From Walter Oscar Pavan
- 9-2-7
-
- In the little town of Castiglione di Cervia (province
of Ravenna, Italy), since mid July 2007, several people have been attended
at the hospital and health centres with high fever and arthralgia, joint
and muscular pain, severe headaches, body aches and, in some cases, a rash
was also noted.
-
- Since the beginning of August 2007, an increasing number
of febrile syndromes associated with arthralgia have been recorded in the
general population of the area. Initially, only dozens of residents were
infected; now that number has jumped to about 100-150. Many of the sufferers
are already better, but the number of new infections is still on the rise.
-
- The patients had been suspected of being infected with
chikungunya virus based on the clinical presentation. Health authorities
had fumigated the village to kill the _Aedes albopictus_ mosquitoes that
infest the area, had taken blood samples from patients, and sent the samples
to the laboratory of the Istituto Superiore di Sanita -- E0-ISS (the leading
technical and scientific public body of the Italian National Health Service).
However, we have not yet received the results of the lab tests.
-
- Castiglione is few km south southeast of Ravenna, in
Emilia Romagna Region, Italy.
-
- Dr. Walter Oscar Pavan, M.D.
- Emilia Romagna Region - Department of Health
- Public Health Service
- Lyme Borreliosis Regional Referral Centre
- Via Zaccagnini, 22
- 48018 Faenza - Italy
- wo.pavan@ausl.ra.it
-
- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD
- Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Univ of West Indies
-
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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