Dengue and Chikungunya

Dengue is caused by 4 related but distinct flaviviruses, DENV1 – 4, which result in 390 million infections annually, with one-third of the world’s population at risk. Most flaviviruses are transmitted by arthropods, such as mosquitoes and ticks, and are responsible for diseases such as yellow fever, West Nile fever, and Japanese encephalitis. DENV is primarily transmitted by the bite of an infected female Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is endemic to every global region except Europe and Antarctica. Dengue primarily occurs in South and Southeast Asia, Africa, tropical South and Central America, and the Caribbean. In the United States, dengue is a nationally notifiable disease, with 677 cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2014. It is endemic in Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. Most US cases result from travel to an endemic area, but locally acquired dengue has been documented...