First Death From Chikungunya Virus Reported in Brazil; Same Mosquito Carrying Zika Virus to Blame

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An Indian teen from the Xucururu tribe was the first fatal casualty in Brazil due to acute myositis, which is caused by the Chikungunya virus.

It seems like there is one more thing to worry about the Zika virus-carrying mosquitoes that are prevalent in many Latin American countries nowadays as they were believed to be transmitting the Chikungunya virus, as well.

The 17-year-old Danielle Santana was proclaimed dead on Jan. 7 at Restoration Hospital in the northeastern city of Recife in Pernambuco state due to acute myositis, which is a condition characterized by muscle pain, swelling and difficulty in walking. It has similar symptoms to the Guillain-Barre syndrome, the Fox News Latino reported.

The death of Santana was the first reported case in Brazil and only the fifth in the world because of the rare condition.

"Medical examinations found that the myositis was brought on by the Chikungunya virus, with which the young woman was infected in her native village in the Pesqueira municipality of Pernambuco," according to the report.

"The hospital said it had only heard of four other cases of people suffering from myositis as a complication of Chikungunya, all of them in far-off India."

The first case in the country took place in the Pernambuco state where most of the babies born with microcephaly were also reported. Microcephaly is a rare neurological condition in which an infant's head is significantly smaller than the heads of other children of the same age and sex.

Microcephaly is also linked to the Zika virus carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is also believed to be carrying the Chikungunya virus.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there was an average of 28 people per year in the United States who tested positive for recent Chikungunya virus infection from 2006‒2013. Moreover, all the cases were travelers visiting or returning to the country coming from affected areas in Asia, Africa or the Indian Ocean.

However, it was only in 2013 when the first local transmission in the U.S. was reported in the Caribbean countries and territories. The transmission was caused by mosquitoes in the area infected by the virus.

Some of the common symptoms of the Chikungunya virus infection include fever, joint pain, headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, and rash. Currently, there is no available vaccine or medicine for the prevention and treatment of the Chikungunya virus infection.

"When traveling to countries with chikungunya virus, use insect repellent, wear long sleeves and pants, and stay in places with air conditioning or that use window and door screens," the CDC advised.