The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning American travelers to take “enhanced precautions” when traveling to foreign countries experiencing a chikungunya virus outbreak.
The mosquito-borne illness is currently prevalent in China, specifically in Foshan, located in the southern Guangdong Province. Other cases have been reported in parts of Central and South America, Africa, Asia, and countries or territories near the Indian Ocean.
The CDC issued a “Level 2” travel alert in response to the virus. The public health agency warned American travelers are at an elevated risk of exposure to the chikungunya virus if they visit Brazil, Colombia, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, or Thailand.
The CDC reported current outbreaks in Bolivia, China, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, Réunion, Somalia, and Sri Lanka. The agency recommends travelers get vaccinated when visiting an area with an outbreak.
As of Wednesday, most of the recent 7,000 chikungunya virus cases have been reported in Foshan, China. The city is located near Hong Kong, which reported its first case of the disease since 2019 on Monday. New cases appear to be slowly declining, according to Chinese officials.
Foshan authorities are trying to combat the virus by taking preventative measures, such as spraying people with insect repellent before they can enter buildings and ordering residents to disperse standing water. Those who do not dump the water can be fined up to $1,400 and have their electricity cut.
Officials have deployed drones to identify mosquito breeding grounds in stagnant water. Mosquito-eating fish and “elephant mosquitoes,” whose larvae eat other mosquito larvae, have also been deployed to fight the virus at its source.
The efforts are part of China’s “patriotic public health campaign,” which is reminiscent of the country’s crackdown on the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson has said the cases in China were “under control,” the New York Times reported.
The chikungunya virus is spread to people by infected female mosquitoes that also transmit the dengue and Zika viruses. The disease is not directly contagious from person to person.
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The most common symptoms are fevers and joint pain, according to the CDC. Other symptoms include headaches, muscle pain, joint swelling, and rashes.
Locally acquired chikungunya cases have not been reported in the United States or its territories since 2019, the agency noted. However, there were 199 travel-related chikungunya reports in the U.S. last year and 46 so far this year.