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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday announced its approval of Ixchiq, the first chikungunya vaccine. The vaccine, which is made by Valneva, is approved for anyone age 18 and older who has a risk of being exposed to the virus. The chikungunya virus is transmitted to people through bites from infected mosquitoes. "This virus is in a similar category as dengue or Zika and is carried by the same mosquitoes," noted Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News medical contributor. The FDA described chikungunya as an "emerging global...

Researchers at Rockefeller University in New York found people who have higher levels of certain acids on their skin are 100 times more attractive to the female Aedes aegypti, the type of mosquito responsible for spreading diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika. The findings, published Tuesday in the journal Cell, could lead to new products that could mask or alter certain human odors, making it harder for mosquitoes to find human blood and potentially curbing the spread of disease. SNIP Experts have found people seem to become more attractive to mosquitoes when they're pregnant or after they've...

Graphical abstract. Credit: DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.07.033 A multi-institutional team led by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has isolated monoclonal antibodies that in laboratory and animal studies prevented infection by alphaviruses, including the often-lethal Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV). EEEV, which infects the central nervous system of humans, horses and other animals, is the most virulent encephalitic alphavirus. Although only a few human cases are reported annually in the United States, the fatality rate exceeds 30%, and there are no approved vaccines or antiviral drugs to treat it. These results, reported in the current issue of the journal Cell, represent new...

The biotech firm Oxitec has released its genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, with the goal of suppressing wild, disease-carrying mosquito populations in the region. This is the first time genetically modified mosquitoes have been released in the US. Oxitec previously released its modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Brazil, the Cayman Islands, Panama, and Malaysia, and the company reported that local A. aegypti populations fell by at least 90 percent in those locations, Live Science previously reported. A. aegypti can carry diseases such as Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever, and releasing modified mosquitoes offers a way to control...

Mosquito bites are bothersome enough, but when you consider risks, like getting sick with Zika, dengue, or chikungunya, it’s important that you choose an insect repellent that works well and that you feel comfortable regularly using. Protect yourself when traveling: Learn about country-specific travel advice, health risks, and how to stay safe by visiting CDC Travelers’ Health website. Use insect repellent: Use an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellent with one of the following active ingredients. When used as directed, EPA-registered insect repellents are proven safe and effective, even for pregnant and breastfeeding women.DEETPicaridin, also known as KBR 3023, Bayrepel,...

Estimated range of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus in the United States, 2017* Prevention of mosquito bites is the best defense. Geographically, the 75% of the range includes approximately 85% of the U.S. population. CDC has updated the estimated range maps for Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes by using a model that predicts possible geographic ranges for these mosquitoes in the contiguous United States. The model used county-level records, historical records, and suitable climate variables to predict the likelihood (very low, low, moderate, or high) that these mosquitoes could survive and reproduce if introduced to an area during the...

Millions of genetically modified mosquitoes could be released in the Florida Keys if British researchers win approval to use the bugs against two extremely painful viral diseases. Never before have insects with modified DNA come so close to being set loose in a residential U.S. neighborhood. […] Dengue and chikungunya are growing threats in the U.S., but some people are more frightened at the thought of being bitten by a genetically modified organism. More than 130,000 signed a Change.org petition against the experiment. Even potential boosters say those responsible must do more to show that benefits outweigh the risks. […]...

A new aggressive daytime-biting mosquito capable of transmitting debilitating and possibly deadly viruses has been found in the Los Angeles region, officials announced Wednesday. Known as yellow fever mosquitoes, the insects were found Oct. 7 and 8 in Commerce and Pico Rivera, respectively, according to the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District. The Aedes aegypti species, which has black and white stripes and grows to about a quarter-inch in size, can transmit dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever -- viruses that can cause painful symptoms including headaches and high fever, officials said. "While these debilitating viruses, so far, aren't locally...

Authorities have estimated that about 1,000 people in Villa de San Francisco have contracted the disease. The Honduran government Thursday declared state of emergency in the town of Villa de San Francisco, some 25 miles from the capital city of Tegucigalpa, after hundreds of people were diagnosed with Chikungunya virus sympotons. "We are extremely concerned. About 200 families have been infected, causing each member to infect another,” said Romeo Montoya, representative in Honduras of the Pan American Health Organization (OPS). Montoya explained that the spread could have been brought to the country by several community members who travelled to El...

Ebola panic has spread all the way to the United States, even though the possibility of it actually spreading across American shores is dismally low. People might be better off preparing for the chikungunya virus, which has been reported several times throughout the southern United States — including a third case recently reported in the Dallas area, according to CBS. Chikungunya virus has hit the hardest in the Central American and Caribbean countries of El Salvador and the Dominican Republican. Although exact number are unavailable for the Dominican, El Salvadorian officials are reporting that there are currently 30,000 cases...

Border Surge: Secretary of State John Kerry warns of a new surge of illegals, just as Central America is being hit by a new wave of epidemics. No doubt about it: President Obama's open-borders policy is exposing us to disease, too. In a background press briefing at the U.N. last Tuesday, a senior State Department official said Secretary of State John Kerry told his counterparts from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico that the pause in minors coming across our southern border was temporary, and that "we have to use this time to put in place more efforts, greater efforts...

(Reuters) - Cases of chikungunya virus, a painful, mosquito-borne disease that has spread rapidly through the Caribbean in recent months, spiked higher in New York and New Jersey in the past week, according to new federal data. ... Symptoms, which develop three to seven days after being bitten by an infected mosquito, include high fever, headache, muscle pain, back pain and rash. In rare cases it is fatal. Small children and the elderly are more likely to develop severe cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC said the United States averaged 28 cases of chikungunya each year...

More cases of chikungunya, a painful virus spread by mosquitos, are being reported across the country. The Centers for Disease Control has listed a total of 497 cases in the U.S. in 35 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, 197 locally transmitted. Examiner.com reports that other state and local health agencies noted 40 cases, bringing the total to 537. The outbreak is due to a recent epidemic that started late last year in the Caribbean. The first two locally transmitted stateside cases were reported in Florida late last week. "The arrival of chikungunya virus, first in the tropical Americas...

(English-language translation) The Department of Health declared a Chikungunya virus epidemic in Puerto Rico since it is a new virus in the island, the population does not have the antibodies to fight it, and cases are concentrated in the same zone. As of June 25, 206 cases were reported in the island. It was [also] reported that 89% of cases in Puerto Rico were registered in the Metropolitan Area: San Juan, Carolina, and Bayamón. So reported Health Secretary Ana Rius this morning, explaining at the same time that, through Administrative Order 324 that declares the epidemic, all health plans must...

Chikungunya has been reported in a Florida man and womanwho had not recently traveled, health officials said Thursday — the first indication that the painful virus has taken up residence in the United States. ...

CDC: Cases Confirmed In 15 States, Including N.Y., With 25 In Florida Alone June 16, 2014 6:19 PM NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — First there was West Nile virus. Now health experts are warning about another virus carried by mosquitoes. The chikungunya virus — or “chik-v” — has sickened tens of thousands of people throughout the Caribbean with high fever and severe pain. Now Americans are coming down with it, too, and there’s fear that it will spread, CBS 2′s Kristine Johnson reported. “This is not a fatal infection; it’s just a miserable infection,” said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of Vanderbilt...

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta (CDC) is reporting that the mosquito borne illness, Chikungunya Fever, has the potential to be imported to the southern United States, areas with temperate climates and large mosquito vectors. Chikungunya Fever is a viral disease, a mosquito-borne pathogen, similar to Dengue Fever. The disease is transmitted by mosquitoes of the Aedes genus, the same type of mosquitoes that transmit the Dengue Fever Virus. Chikungunya Fever is endemic to Asia, Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. A large outbreak was reported in 2006-2007 in India, and several other countries in southeast Asia....

A type of bacteria that infects many insects may make mosquitoes more resistant to viruses that can be dangerous to humans, researchers have found. The discovery could be helpful in the battles against two painful and sometimes fatal diseases, dengue and chikungunya. Last year, researchers showed they could take Wolbachia bacteria from fruit flies and infect mosquitoes with it, cutting their already brief life spans by half. That discovery was important because most of the malaria transmitted by female mosquitoes is transmitted late in their lives. They must pick up the parasites by biting an infected human, and it takes...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Europe face a new health threat from a mosquito-borne disease far more unpleasant than the West Nile virus. Chikungunya virus has spread beyond Africa since 2005, causing outbreaks and scores of fatalities in India and the French island of Reunion. It also has been detected in Italy, where it has begun to spread locally, as well as France. Unlike West Nile virus, where nine out of 10 people are going to be totally asymptomatic, or may have a mild headache or a stiff neck, if you get Chikungunya you're going to be sick....

CASTIGLIONE DI CERVIA, Italy — Panic was spreading this August through this tidy village of 2,000 as one person after another fell ill with weeks of high fever, exhaustion and excruciating bone pain, just as most of Italy was enjoying Ferragosto, its most important summer holiday. “At one point, I simply couldn’t stand up to get out of the car,” said Antonio Ciano, 62, an elegant retiree in a pashmina scarf and trendy blue glasses. “I fell. I thought, O.K., my time is up. I’m going to die. It was really that dramatic.” By midmonth, more than 100 people had...