Cases of chikungunya virus infection in travellers returning to Spain from Haiti or Dominican Republic, April-June 2014

Euro Surveill. 2014 Jul 17;19(28):20853. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.es2014.19.28.20853.

Abstract

Ten cases of chikungunya were diagnosed in Spanish travellers returning from Haiti (n=2), the Dominican Republic (n=7) or from both countries (n=1) between April and June 2014. These cases remind clinicians to consider chikungunya in European travellers presenting with febrile illness and arthralgia, who are returning from the Caribbean region and Central America, particularly from Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The presence of Aedes albopictus together with viraemic patients could potentially lead to autochthonous transmission of chikungunya virus in southern Europe.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Alphavirus Infections / diagnosis*
  • Alphavirus Infections / epidemiology
  • Alphavirus Infections / virology
  • Chikungunya Fever
  • Chikungunya virus / genetics
  • Chikungunya virus / isolation & purification*
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Dominican Republic
  • Female
  • Fever / etiology
  • Haiti
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • RNA, Viral
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Spain / epidemiology
  • Travel*

Substances

  • RNA, Viral