It's only a matter of time before chikungunya virus spreads in the U.S

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As someone mosquitoes find irresistibly delicious, I can hardly wait. :confused:

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It’s already in Houston TX:

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A blood test confirmed that someone in my family was exposed to it in Maryland. The symptoms were awful: a week of fever, night sweats, aches followed by a full-body rash.

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If it only lasts a few weeks, won’t it disappear once winter comes?

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Oh, those fucking tiger mosquitoes. They’re all over here in eastern Kyushu and they’re nasty little bastards. Their bite already makes me swell up and itch for an entire week. Not surprised they’ve found a way to be even more terrible.

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I also get giant 2 inch wide swollen spots from mosquito bites. A while ago I heard of a way to get rid of the swelling and itching, and it seems to work pretty well!

Run hot water over the bite for a couple minutes.

  • Start with warm water, then slowly increase the temperature to as hot as you can stand it.

  • Some people report that a hot spoon (hold it under the hot water for a few seconds, then apply to bite) works, but i find it hurts more than the water, and doesn’t take the swelling away. It does relieve the itch for a few hours.

It’s not going to help with the chikungunya virus, but it sure helps with the swelling,

That does work… for a couple of minutes. None of the remedies I’ve found help for very long. The alcohol-based squeezy things with something-caine in them are about the best and you have to keep reapplying it. I’m pretty sensitive to insect bites anyway so you just get used to toughing it out over the summer.

Sorry to hear that. I’ve heard of but not tried using steeped black teabags over the bite too.

Anyways, good luck!

I hear Madagascar has already closed all of its ports.

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Here’s a link to the CDC report on Chikungunya, and the dispersal of the disease in the U.S. Currently, it has been found only in travelers, but it has been found in most of the continental U.S. At this time, there are no locally-transmitted cases reported here.

The Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are a different story. There, locally-transmitted cases have occurred. In the US Virgin Islands there have been 2, and in Puerto Rico there have been 121. Chik hasn’t yet hit Cuba or Jamaica, but almost all the smaller islands east are already showing local infections.

The CDC site updates their numbers every Tuesday. So if you’re concerned about a particular outbreak of a disease, it’s a good site to find current information at.

The CDC also maintains a traveler’s site. So if you are planning to travel, you can check there for health updates and warnings about current outbreaks.

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Here in Florida we have a lot to look forward to, since the Tea Party has been cutting funds related to mosquito control. I’m waiting for CDC travel advisories to be issued for Florida.

Can we can train the mosquitoes to only bite Republicans?

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Oh, chikungunYA. Phew. I thought you said chicken gundam!

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The best ones that work for my wife are the ones that have ammonia in them. She typically has bite-reactions that get huge and leave a mark for several weeks, but if she uses one of the ammonia sticks the reaction is much attenuated.

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http://boingboing.net/2012/08/17/cheap-looking-bug-bite-zapper.html

Our family have been using this for years and swear by it. Same idea as the running water, but hotter and more focused. The only real drawback is that it loses it’s effectiveness the longer you wait - use it as soon as you realize you have been bitten.

An added bonus - our pain threshold is through the roof.

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You just need to drink a Whiskey drink, a Vodka Drink, A Larger Drink and Cider Drink.
And sing the songs that remind you of the good times.
And if you get knocked down…you get up again.
You’ll never let it keep you down.

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We’ve been referring to it as “Chicken Galunga”, which also sounds like some sort of Indian dish That Should be Avoided.

Oh yeah, THAT song.

Here it is, as covered by TMBG.

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I had chigunkunya some years ago along with maybe all the people from Reunion island, some people had joint pain for months and other just some days, the thing i did was to walk even if i felt like a hundred years old and it lasted only 3 days, i heard a cure to chigunkunya was the cheese fruit but i didn’t try it.

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