Chikungunya persists
Between 1 January and 17 July this year, according to the UK’s National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC), there have been a total of 443,779 suspected cases of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) reported in the Caribbean and the Americas, including 60 deaths. Most recently, autochthonous (locally acquired) transmission was observed in Peru; as of 17 July, there had been 11 suspected and seven confirmed cases. Case numbers continue to grow elsewhere, although many countries have not reported any new cases in weeks.
As of 17 July, the countries and territories in the Caribbean and the Americas with confirmed autochthonous transmission (since December 2013, when the first such cases were reported) were: Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, the US and Venezuela in Central, North and South America; and Aruba, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Maarten, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks and Caicos, and the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Islands.