A village in northern Italy got the dubious distinction this year of becoming the first place in modern Europe to suffer an outbreak of a tropical disease.
New York Times reporter Elisabeth Rosenthal tells the story in her recent article, “As Earth Warms Up, Tropical Virus Moves to Italy.”
Here’s what happened: In August, more than 100 people in the village of Castiglione de Cervia became sick with high fever, exhaustion and bone pain — lasting for weeks. Doctors did not know what it was and could not treat it. The symptoms dissipated after a few weeks, but doctors did not figure out the culprit until a month later.
The villagers had gotten chikungunya, a tropical disease normally found in the Indian Ocean region and is spread by the tiger mosquito. The mosquitoes — and the disease — can now survive in Italy’s warmer climate, which is a bit more tropical due to global warming. Chikungunya is a close relative of dengue fever.
A quick look at a world map shows that this Italian village is about as far north from the Indian Ocean as Boston is from Miami. So it’s a big deal that both the mosquito and the virus can survive there.
In comparison, the tiger mosquito also exists in 20 southern and eastern U.S. states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that the southern and southeast U.S. are at risk for sporadic outbreaks of dengue fever, because the mosquito is there and some travelers bring the virus into the country.
Scientists have long predicted that a warmer world would allow tropical diseases to move farther toward the poles.
Tiger mosquitoes came to southern Italy 10 years ago, but since then have moved north and now roam all of southern Europe.
The chikungunya virus got to the village in the blood of an Italian who had traveled to Kerala, India. A tiger mosquito bit him, picked up the virus and then passed it on by biting someone else.
This “first” is not one anybody wanted to see, but I guess it was inevitable given the realities of economic globalization and global warming.
(There’s more in this story from Science magazine.)
This is not for the first time that we see this sort of news about shifting of disease from one area of the World to the other. Writer of this article has given food for thought to preempt the preventive measures.
Chikungunya sufferer displays symptoms of high fever,exhaustion and bone pain lasting weeks. This is really painful to remain in agony for long period,self being unproductive and others to look after. Moreover becoming the source to spread the virus through vector ‘tiger mosquitoes’.
The other disease spread by the same vector is said to be dengue fever. This fever is more critical, may cause haemorrhagia and requires immediate supportive treatment.
IMPORTANT to know is that this vector breads in fresh standing water and is active in the early hours of the morning and before sunset in the evening. Therefore caution should be taken to minimise the breeding places and protect at the specific times from bites by the vectors.
This is not the first time in Europe a tropical virus has hit. France had the chikungunya virus first in 2006. That was when Europe got it’s first taste of
a tropical virus, article below…
Dozens in France Contract Tropical Virus
From Associated Press
February 27, 2006 7:34 PM EST
SAINT-DENIS, La Reunion - A few dozen people in mainland France who contracted a mosquito-borne virus on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion are being treated at a Paris hospital, officials said Monday.
The chikungunya virus has struck 20 percent of the population of the Indian Ocean island and overwhelmed its medical system. Health Minister Xavier Bertrand said a few dozen people were treated at a Paris hospital after they were infected with the chikungunya virus while traveling to Reunion and other Indian Ocean islands.
Despite the cases reported in mainland France, doctors insist that the virus has almost no chance of spreading outside tropical zones, because the mosquitoes need heat and humidity to survive.
The virus is usually not life-threatening but can cause muscle and joint pain, rash and fever. Chikungunya is a Swahili word meaning “that which bends up,” a reference to the stooped posture some victims adopt because of joint pain.
Thanks for your comments!
Katie: I think the distinction between what happened in 2006 and in 2007 is that last year, mosquitoes in the northern Italian village actually spread the disease around and villagers contracted it right there.
In 2006, people contracted it on Reunion Island and then returned to France, but it did not spread in France. Last year, it did spread in Italy because the climate was warm enough for both the tiger mosquitoes and the chikungunya to survive. That’s my read on it.
due to present realities i think the focus of medical profession in former temperate regions should be to train more about tropical diseases. Some of us living in the tropics are well aware of the chores of getting someone to treat a simple case of malaria in Europe. The slack between an outbreak and the time when someone figures out the disease could have fatal consequences