The debilitating outbreak sweeping the Americas

Meera Senthilingam, for CNN

Updated 1510 GMT (2310 HKT) January 5, 2015

It's a disease with an exotic name, painful symptoms and no treatment or vaccine. It's endemic in Asia and Africa, and it recently spread to the Americas -- where nearly 1 million people have been infected and 150 have died. Here, a doctor examines a patient in El Salvador for signs of Chikungunya.
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Global rise in Chikungunya infections – It's a disease with an exotic name, painful symptoms and no treatment or vaccine. It's endemic in Asia and Africa, and it recently spread to the Americas -- where nearly 1 million people have been infected and 150 have died. Here, a doctor examines a patient in El Salvador for signs of Chikungunya.
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The Chikungunya virus is spread through the bite of the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquito species, which are local to the Americas.
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Global rise in Chikungunya infections – The Chikungunya virus is spread through the bite of the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquito species, which are local to the Americas.
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Blood tests are the only means of confirming infection with Chikungunya.
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Global rise in Chikungunya infections – Blood tests are the only means of confirming infection with Chikungunya.
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People living in affected regions are advised to sleep under bed nets to avoid being bitten by infected mosqutoes.
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Global rise in Chikungunya infections – People living in affected regions are advised to sleep under bed nets to avoid being bitten by infected mosqutoes.
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Workers from Haiti's Ministry of Public Health and Population spray chemicals to exterminate mosquitoes. Mosquito control is the main strategy used to prevent further spread of disease.
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Global rise in Chikungunya infections – Workers from Haiti's Ministry of Public Health and Population spray chemicals to exterminate mosquitoes. Mosquito control is the main strategy used to prevent further spread of disease.
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A police officer fumigates against Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Honduras.
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Global rise in Chikungunya infections – A police officer fumigates against Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Honduras.
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Shallow water surfaces are being removed to reduce the number of mosquito breeding sites.
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Global rise in Chikungunya infections – Shallow water surfaces are being removed to reduce the number of mosquito breeding sites.
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Chikungunya El Salvador 1Chikungunya mosquito vectorChikungunya blood testChikungunya bednetChikungunya insecticides sprayChikungunya HondurasChikungunya breeding sites

Story highlights

  • In 2014 an outbreak of Chikungunya has spread across the Americas
  • The mosquito-borne virus causes debilitating symptoms such as joint pain
  • More than 1 million people have been infected and 155 have died
  • There is no treatment or vaccine, making prevention the main strategy for control
Vital Signs is a monthly program bringing viewers health stories from around the world.

(CNN)Its name means "bending over in pain." It has no treatment or vaccine. Its symptoms resemble Dengue fever. And it has infected more than 1 million people -- 155 of them fatally -- since spreading to the Americas one year ago.

The mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus has long been diagnosed in travelers returning from countries in Asia and Africa, where the disease is widespread. But in December 2013, the first people infected by mosquitoes local to the region were reported on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.
    This was the first outbreak of the debilitating disease in the Western Hemisphere, health officials said.
      All countries in Central America have now reported local transmission of Chikungunya [pronounced chik-un-GOON-ya], and the United States had 11 confirmed cases of local infection this year as of December 12, all in Florida. There also have been 1,900 imported cases across the United States in returning travelers.
      "It wasn't until 2013 that unfortunately a traveler resulted in local transmission of Chikungunya," said Erin Staples of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), referring to the people infected in Saint Martin.
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      Those infected carry the virus in their bloodstream; it can then be picked up by mosquitoes as they bite, making them carriers. The virus has since spread rapidly and shows no signs of leaving, as ecological conditions are perfect for the disease to flourish.
      "We knew it would spread," said Staples, a medical epidemiologist.
      The big question perplexing officials: Why now?
      Two mosquito species primed to the temperatures of Central and South America carry Chikungunya. The species -- Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus -- also carry the virus behind Dengue fever.