The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) in Atlanta has issued a travel health notice, advising those planning to travel to St Martin to take steps to protect themselves from mosquito bites.
Meanwhile, in an epidemiological update on “autochthonous cases of chikungunya fever in the Caribbean region” the European Centre For Disease Prevention (ECDC) has said that there at least now there were 201 “probable or confirmed cases” in French St Martin and two confirmed cases on the Dutch side of the island.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has reported the increase in the numbers of confirmed cases and possible cases of the Chikungunya virus on the French and Dutch side of St Martin/St Marten as well as on other Caribbean islands.
An ECDC risk assessment of the outbreak has concluded that the risk of the disease spreading to other islands in the region was “high”.
Dengue fever and chikungunya viruses are both transmitted by the same Aedes Aegypti mosquito species. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in the United States said it will be closely monitoring the developments following “new reports of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus among residents of the French side of St Martin in the Caribbean”.
An outbreak of chikungunya in the Caribbean was first reported from the French side of St Martin on December 5.
