Chikungunya cases rise by more than 41,000
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported 41,424 new cases of chikungunya in the Caribbean and Americas in a report dated Feb 20 but posted yesterday, with more than 33,000 of those cases in Colombia, bringing the outbreak total to 1,248,093.
The new total includes 1,217,093 suspected and 27,529 confirmed locally acquired cases and 3,471 imported cases of the mosquito-borne disease.
Colombia, which reported no new cases in the Feb 13 PAHO update, reported 33,755 new cases last week, bringing the country's outbreak total to 177,213.
Brazil reported 3,163 new cases, bringing its outbreak total to 6,743, and El Salvador reported 3,015, bringing its outbreak total to 141,789.
The United States reported a modest increase of 148 new imported chikungunya cases, bringing the country's outbreak total of imported cases to 2,506. Puerto Rico reported a death due to chikungunya, bringing the territory's fatality total to 15. The outbreak has caused 183 total deaths, according to PAHO.
Feb 20 PAHO update
Study notes 5% seroprevalence in SFTS-endemic village in China
Chinese scientists yesterday reported that more than 5% of farmers living in a village in which severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) had antibodies to the virus, according to a study in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.
The researchers collected serum samples from 363 farmers in a village in the western province of Shaanxi, which is where the first-ever case of the tick-borne disease was noted in 2009. They found antibodies to the SFTS virus (SFTSV) in 20 of them (5.5%), with no statistically significant difference between men and women.
The authors conclude, "SFTSV readily infects humans with outdoors exposures. Our serological study indicates that the virus circulates widely in Shaanxi Province. SFTSV represents a public health threat in China."
Feb 23 Int J Infect Dis abstract