Chikungunya Fever Outbreak

(Palm Beach County, Florida)

A 66-year-old man became the first person in Palm Beach County — and the fourth in Florida — to come down with chikungunya fever after contracting the mosquito-borne virus in the Caribbean, the county Health Department announced Wednesday.

The unidentified man began feeling ill on May 15, shortly after returning home from a trip through the island of Hispaniola, Health Department spokesman Timothy O'Connor said. He was treated at a county hospital the following day and is recovering at home, where he is protecting himself from mosquitoes so as not to spread the virus.[…]

Symptoms — which typically begin three to seven days after being bitten by an infected Aedes mosquito — include fever, headache, swelling, rash or severe joint pain, often in the hands and feet. It is not typically fatal.

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