Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne disease that has affected islands in the Indian Ocean and India, has surfaced on US shores.
Colorado, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota and at least half a dozen US states have reported cases of travelers returning from Asia and East Africa down with the virus, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
"This virus has exploded," French scientist Philippe Parola was quoted in The Chicago Tribune before presenting his findings last week at the 55th annual American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene conference.
Indian Ocean Islands of Mayotte, Reunion and the Seychelles, to 150 provinces of India, Chikungunya has infected more than 1.3 million people in the last 20 months.
"We believe this type of outbreak could occur in other regions of the world where competent vectors [mosquitoes] are prevalent," Parola wrote in the journal article.
The French scientist has also detailed the extent to which Chikungunya has now become a 'global' disease -- France has reported 850 cases of travel-associated chikungunya, the United Kingdom 93 and the United States at least a dozen.
Chikungunya-infected travelers have also been diagnosed in Belgium, French Guyana, Hong Kong, Italy, Kenya, Malaysia, Martinique, Norway, Switzerland and Sri Lanka.
Chikungunya is now showing signs of a re-emerging infectious disease and in a small group of 200 of the 1415 known infectious diseases that are either emerging for the first time or re-emerging.
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