Last night at the KSA Public Safety Committee, it was reported by the City of Houston that West Nile mosquitoes have been confirmed in the following zip codes:
1. 77339
2. 77345
3. 77346
The City is working with Harris County to treat the areas soon. Attached are some prevention tips and information on another specie of mosquito.
Stay Safe my Friends.
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2014 17:08:30 -0500
Subject: Let's please help each other to prevent Chikungunya and West Nile Viruses.
Dear neighbors,
ALERT!
I urge you to please keep your lawns, both front and back mowed frequently and do away with any containers that may hold water.
High uncut grass and weeds are an invitation to health problems and make enjoying the outdoors impossible.
Not only do we suffer but also our pets with heart worm disease carried by mosquitos.
For those not cutting your lawns frequently please do so. Consider your families health as well as the health of your surrounding neighbors, to minimize the health risk of the Chikungunya and West NileViruses.
Please pass this email to your friends & neighbors.
Signs and symptoms
The incubation period of chikungunya disease ranges from one to twelve days, typically two to three. The majority of those infected will develop symptoms.[6] Symptoms include a fever up to 40 °C (104 °F), a petechial or maculopapular rash of the trunk and occasionally the limbs, and arthralgia or arthritis affecting multiple joints.[7] Other nonspecific symptoms can include headache, nausea, vomiting, conjunctivitis, slight photophobia and partial loss of taste.[8] Ocular inflammation from chikungunya may present as iridocyclitis. Retinal lesions may also occur.[9] Pedal edema (swelling of legs) is observed in many patients, the cause of which remains obscure as it is not related to any cardiovascular, renal or hepatic abnormalities.
Typically, the fever lasts for two days and then ends abruptly. However, other symptoms—namely joint pain, intense headache, insomnia and an extreme degree of prostration—last for a variable period; usually for about five to seven days.[7] Patients have complained of joint pains for much longer time periods; some as long as two years, depending on their age.[10][11] Recovery from the disease varies by age. Younger patients recover within 5 to 15 days; middle-aged patients recover in 1 to 2.5 months. Recovery is longer for the elderly. The severity of the disease as well as its duration is less in younger patients and pregnant women. In pregnant women, no untoward effects are noticed after the infection.
Chronic disease
Observations during recent epidemics have suggested chikungunya may cause long-term symptoms following acute infection. During the La Reunion outbreak in 2006, greater than 50% of subjects over the age of 45 reported long term musculoskeletal pain[12] with up to 60% of patients reporting prolonged arthralgia 3 years following initial infection.[13] A study of imported cases in France reported that 59% of patients still suffered from arthralgia two years after acute infection.[14] Following a local epidemic of chikungunya in Italy, 66% of patients reported myalgia, arthralgia, or asthenia at one year postacute infection.[15] Long-term symptoms are not an entirely new observation; long-term arthritis was observed following an outbreak in 1979.[16] Common predictors of prolonged symptoms are increased age and prior rheumatological disease.[12][13][15][17] The cause of these chronic symptoms is currently not fully known. Markers of autoimmune or rheumatoid disease have not been found in patients reporting chronic symptoms.[13][18] However, some evidence from human patients and animal models suggest that chikungunya may be able to establish chronic infections within the host. Viral antigen was detected in a muscle biopsy of a patient suffering a recurrent episode of disease three months after initial onset.[19] Additionally, viral antigen and RNA were found in synovial macrophages of a patient during a relapse of musculoskeletal disease 18 months post initial infection.[20] Several animal models have also suggested that chikungunya virus may establish persistent infections. In a mouse model, viral RNA was detected specifically in joint-associated tissue for at least 16 weeks post-inoculation, and was associated with chronic synovitis.[21] Similarly, another study reported detection of a viral reporter gene in joint tissue of mice for weeks post-inoculation.[22] In a non-human primate model, chikungunya virus was found to persist in the spleen for at least 6 weeks.[23]
