"Dengue's Cousin" Makes First Independent Appearance in Brazil

09/17/2014 - 09h16

For the first time ever, Brazil has recorded a transmission of the Chikungunya virus. Known as "Dengue's cousin", it is also transmitted via the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitos.

According to the Ministry of Health, two cases - a father of 53 years of age, and his daughter, of 31 - were confirmed in Oiapoque, in the northern state of Amapá.

"As they say that haven't travelled to any country where the disease is prominent, we consider these to be native cases of the disease," said Jarbas Barbosa, from the ministry.

Prior to Tuesday (16), Brazil had only had experience with 37 "imported" cases of the disease, occurring in individuals who were infected abroad and brought the disease with them to Brazil.

The symptoms of dengue and Chikungunya are similar, including fever, nausea, headaches and joint pain. With Chikungunya, these pains can last for up to three months.

The Ministry of Health is concerned that the appearance of this new illness will complicate the diagnosis of dengue, which is potentially a more serious disease.

Barbosa says that Chikungunya will be difficult to contain. Since December 2013, 650,000 suspected cases were registered in the Americas, with nearly 9,000 of these being confirmed by laboratory tests. It has been recorded across virtually all of the Caribbean and in the USA.

Barbosa says that it is hard to predict the behavior of the virus in the short term, but that the health system is preparing itself for the "worst-case scenario". "We've made a contingency plan, which is now being applied," he said.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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