Officials reported more than 62,000 new chikungunya cases in the Caribbean and surrounding areas last week—almost all in the Dominican Republic—expanding the outbreak to 576,000 cases, according to an Aug 8 update from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
The total represents an increase of 62,608 suspected and confirmed cases, or 12.2% of the 513,393 reported a week earlier. Of the total, only 646 are imported cases, with the rest locally acquired.
The Dominican Republic accounted for 62,279 of the new cases, to bring its outbreak total to 370,212, according to PAHO.
The update also included 100 new imported and 2 new locally acquired cases in the United States that were confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week. In addition, Puerto Rico reported 734 new locally acquired cases to bring its total to 1,982, plus 17 imported cases.
Caribbean islands that had previously been driving the outbreak numbers—such as Martinique, Guadeloupe, and St. Martin—reported no new cases. Most involved islands and nations, however, are several weeks behind on reporting cases.
Countries reporting their first chikungunya cases were Canada, with 8 confirmed imported cases, and Curacao, with 9 imported cases, 1 of which was confirmed. In addition, Jamaica confirmed its first 2 locally acquired cases; it earlier had reported 2 imported cases.
The outbreak’s death toll remained at 32.
Alex Infohub 