The next Zika: Mayaro virus discovered in Haiti for the first time - TomoNews
- 8 years ago
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI — A mosquito-born virus named Mayaro that experts fear may have as big a global health impact as Zika, has been discovered in Haiti.
On January 8, 2015, an 8-year-old boy went to the school clinic for fever and abdominal pain and was diagnosed typhoid. After checking his blood sample, it was found that he had been infected with Mayaro virus.
Mayaro virus is a single-stranded positive RNA virus, mainly transmitted by Haemagogus mosquitoes, but Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, known carrier of Zika virus, may also be vectors. Symptoms of mayaro includes abdominal pain and joint pain, which can last for as long as a year.
The virus was first discovered in Trinidad in 1954. It was then spread to French Guiana, Suriname, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.
Little is known about the Mayaro virus at the moment. Doctors in Florida warn that the virus may pose future threats.
On January 8, 2015, an 8-year-old boy went to the school clinic for fever and abdominal pain and was diagnosed typhoid. After checking his blood sample, it was found that he had been infected with Mayaro virus.
Mayaro virus is a single-stranded positive RNA virus, mainly transmitted by Haemagogus mosquitoes, but Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, known carrier of Zika virus, may also be vectors. Symptoms of mayaro includes abdominal pain and joint pain, which can last for as long as a year.
The virus was first discovered in Trinidad in 1954. It was then spread to French Guiana, Suriname, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.
Little is known about the Mayaro virus at the moment. Doctors in Florida warn that the virus may pose future threats.