OTTAWA—More than 200 Canadians have been infected by a virus that has sickened almost 800,000 people in the Caribbean.
A Health Canada official says as of Oct. 1, some 201 Canadians had been infected with chikungunya (CHIK-un-gun-yah) disease, a virus transmitted by mosquitoes that causes fever and severe joint pain, as well as muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash.
Eric Morrissette says there is no evidence of local transmission in Canada, since there are no mosquitoes in the country that transmit the virus.
He says the majority of the Canadian cases with travel history involved travel to islands in the Caribbean, where the virus is believed to have emerged in late 2013.
The first case of the disease in the Western Hemisphere was documented on the island of St. Martin last December.
Jamaica recently declared a state of emergency as it grapples with chikungunya. Some estimate as much as 60 per cent of the Jamaican population has been infected.
There have also been confirmed cases in the United States and Central and South America.
Canada issued a travel alert last month warning people going to the Caribbean to protect themselves from mosquito bites.
The Public Health Agency of Canada also urged travellers to consult a health-care provider, or visit a travel health clinic, at least six weeks before going to the Caribbean.
