896 Chickgungunya A Mouthful that is Spreading
Welcome to Medical Discovery News. I’m Dr Norbert Herzog.
And I’m Dr. David Niesel
Global warming is worsening the spread of Chickungunya (chicken-GOON-y) in South America. Even Texas and Florida have reported local transmission.
CHIKV, its shorter name, is a zoonotic pathogen spread by mosquitos. That means it’s an infection that spreads between people and animals, but is maintained primarily in rodents, primates, and birds.
CHIKV was first identified in Tanzania, East Africa, in the nineteen fifties and has now been found in over one hundred ten countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Starting in two thousand four, there have been more outbreaks because the virus has adapted to spread more easily through Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. Also, global warming allowed the mosquitos to grow in more places, for longer, and bite more people.
July twenty-twenty-three was the hottest month in recorded history, and the average global temperature that month was two degrees Fahrenheit above the pre-industrial average.
Mosquito behavior, survival, and transmission are affected by climate, and that’s why people in parts of the world that had not had endemic CHIKV are now seeing cases.
Huge spikes are found in Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. It’s becoming a problem in India, China, and several African countries.
Ten years ago, the first locally acquired CHIKV was reported in North America followed by cases reported in Florida and Texas. As the planet warms, we expect other diseases to also spread, but we should act now to slow climate change.
We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine. For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.com or subscribe to our podcast. Sign up for expanded print episodes at www.illuminascicom.com