A person in Nassau County, New York, has tested positive for the chikungunya virus, a case state health officials confirmed as the first locally acquired incidence of the mosquito-borne disease in the U.S. since 2019.
The New York State Department of Health confirmed the finding on Tuesday based on Laboratory testing conducted at the department’s Wadsworth Center, according to Reuters. Citing existing information, the agency categorized the case as “locally acquired” but noted that the exact origin of the infection remained unclear.
However, according to the county health department, the individual started to develop chikungunya symptoms in August after travelling outside the region, but not outside the country, the Associated Press reported.
Chikungunya, a viral disease characterized by fever and joint pain, among other signs and symptoms, was a rarely identified illness among U.S. travelers until 2006. However, as of Sept. 30, the CDC has confirmed 88 travel-associated chikungunya cases in the U.S. this year. Local transmissions, where people acquire the disease through infected mosquitoes, were last reported in the U.S. in 2019.
Makers of FDA-approved chikungunya vaccines: Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN), Bavarian Nordic (OTCPK:BVNRY) (BAVN) (OTCPK:BVNKF).