Chikungunya Outbreaks

Chikungunya Outbreaks 2024

Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted to humans through the bites of mosquitoes infected with the chikungunya virus (CHIKV), according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Yellow Book 2024. Chikungunya outbreaks were initially recorded in Thailand in 1967 and India in the 1970s. In 2013, the first local CHIKV transmissions were identified in Caribbean countries and U.S. territories. The World Health Organization (WHO) says CHIKV was identified in nearly 115 countries in 2024, primarily in the Region of the Americas. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, approximately 70,000 CHIKVD cases and 15 deaths have been reported worldwide in 2024.

On April 5, 2024, the CDC published an updated Level 2 - Practice Enhanced Precautions, Travel Health Advisory, regarding Timor-Leste's current chikungunya outbreak. On February 28, 2024, Wilbur Chen, MD, MS Chair, ACIP Chikungunya Vaccines Work Group, led the U.S. CDC's vaccine committee through various chikungunya presentations.

Chikungunya Outbreaks 2023

As of December 2023, approximately 460,000 CHIKV cases and 360 related deaths have been reported worldwide by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported 376,850 CHIKV cases in 2023. Most CHIKV patients were in South America, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia. On May 3, 2023, the WHO's EPI-WIN webinar presented Entomological Surveillance and Vector Control by Thomas W. Scott, University of California at Davis; Chikungunya: Background and global overview by Diana Rojas Alvarez, MD Ph.D.; Experiences from the current response to the outbreak in the Americas, by Thais H. dos Santos.

Chikungunya Death Rate

The Lancet Infectious Diseases researchers published a study on February 8, 2024, the found Chikungunya virus disease is associated with an increased risk of death for up to 84 days after symptom onset, including deaths from cerebrovascular diseases, ischaemic heart diseases, and diabetes. Data from 2015 to 2018 in Brazil revealed the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of death within seven days of chikungunya symptom onset was 8.40 (95% CI 4·83–20·09) as compared with the unexposed group and decreased to 2.26 in 57–84 days, and 1,05 at 85–168 days, with IRR close to 1 and wide CI in the subsequent periods.

Africa Chikungunya Outbreaks

CHIKVD cases are mainly located in the Sahel region (Senegal, The Gambia, Burkina Faso, and Mali), where ongoing or previous local transmission of CHIKVD occurred. On November 9, 2023, the U.S. CDC published a Level 2 - Practice Enhanced Precautions, Travel Health Advisory, regarding chikungunya outbreaks in Burkina Faso, as several districts have reported cases. The Public Health Emergency Response Operations Center confirmed 89 chikungunya cases in Pouytenga in the Center-East region of Burkina Faso in September 2023. And Senegal has reported 210 cases in 2023. During 2019–2020, a large-scale chikungunya outbreak occurred in the Republic of Djibouti. In this study, researchers used blood samples on blotting paper to detect the emergence of CHIKV, making it possible to confirm 90% of the arboviral diagnoses.

Asia Chikungunya Outbreaks

The U.S. CDC confirmed a chikungunya outbreak (183+) in Timor-Leste (East Timor) on February 8, 2024. As of December 2023, the ECDC reported (1,277) CHIKV cases in Thailand. On December 24, 2022, Thailand health officials said 1,370 chikungunya cases in 48 provinces in 2022. This data is compared to the 671 cases in 39 provinces in 2021, or a 104% increase. And no deaths were reported in either year.

Central America Chikungunya Outbreaks

During 2023, Chikungunya outbreaks in Central America were reported by the PAHO in Belize (272), Guatemala (200), and Costa Rica (86). The PAHO said (2) CHIKV cases in Mexico during 2023. Chikungunya has been reported in Mexico since 2014.

Europe Chikungunya Outbreaks

As of December 2023, the European CDC assessment - EU/EEA citizens traveling to the affected areas should apply personal protective measures against mosquito bites. The likelihood of onward transmission of the chikungunya virus in mainland EU/EEA is linked to the importation of the virus by viraemic travelers into receptive areas with established and active, competent vectors (Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti). Aedes albopictus is found in a large part of Europe. Aedes aegypti is based notably in Cyprus, on the eastern shores of the Black Sea, and in the outermost region of Madeira. No autochthonous (local) chikungunya virus disease cases were reported in Europe in 2022 or 2023.

India Chikungyna

According to a study's findings published in 2023, India (93,465) was the most CHIKV-productive country in South Asia, and the Philippines (2,561) was the most productive country in Southeast Asia.

South America Chikungunya Outbreaks

Chikungunya was first reported in Argentina in 2016. In 2023, 1,746 CHIKV cases were reported by the PAHO in Argentina.

The PAHO issued an Epidemiological Alert in 2023, saying the current CHIKV season expansion is beyond the historical areas of transmission reported since 2014. The PAHO reported in December 2023, 256,000 probable and confirmed chikungunya cases in Brazil. According to data from the Brazilian Vigilance Health Secretary, the three Brazilian states with the most CHIKV cases were Pernambuco, São Paulo, and Paraíba in 2022. And in 2021, in São Paulo, Brazil's most populous state, cases increased from 468 to 18,156 compared to 2020. Chikungunya clusters with the highest risk were initially located in Brazil's northeast, dispersed to the central-west and coastal areas of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (2018–2021), and then increased in the northeast (2019–2021).

The first case of chikungunya in Bolivia was reported in early 2015. In 2023, 1,455 chikungunya cases were reported, with no deaths, representing an 8-fold increase in patients compared to the same period in 2022.

As of December 2023, the PAHO reported 115,000 CHIKV cases in Paraguay. The U.S. CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices workgroup presented an UPDATE AND OBSERVATIONS ON A LARGE CHIKUNGUNYA OUTBREAK IN PARAGUAY on June 22, 2023. From October 2022 to June 3, 2023, 167,239 chikungunya cases were reported. The CDC Health Alert Network issued CDCHAN-00487 on March 2, 2023, confirming that the Ministry of Health in Paragusaidted 71,478 suspected chikungunya cases in Paraguay since the outbreak began in October 202. Currently, the East/Central/South African (ECSA) chikungunya genotype is circulating; it was first identified in 2018 during an outbreak in the Amambay department and was again identified in samples from 2022 in the Metropolitan Area of Asunción. As a result, an outbreak in Paraguay and surrounding countries is possible. In addition, the CDC reissued a Watch - Level 1, Practice Usual Precautions notice on April 6, 2023, confirming an outbreak of chikungunya in Paraguay's Asunción metropolitan area.

United States Chikungunya

In October 2023, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed U.S. States reported 81 travel-associated CHIKV cases in 2022. Local transmission of the chikungunya virus has never been documented in New York City, Florida, and California. From 2006 to 2021, 4,590 chikungunya cases in travelers were reported in the U.S. Before 2006, the chikungunya virus disease was rarely identified among U.S. travelers.

United Kingdom Chingunguna

In 2023, laboratories in England have a statutory duty to notify the U.K. Health Security Agency of the identification of the chikungunya virus. Travel-associated chikungunya cases have been reported in the U.K.