According to Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes such as Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. It can cause high fever, join and muscle pain, and headache. Chikungunya does not often result in death, but the joint pain may last for months or years and may become a cause of chronic pain and disability. There is no specific treatment for chikungunya infection, nor any vaccine to prevent it. Pending the development of a new vaccine, the only effective means of prevention is to protect individuals against mosquito bites.

Dr. Marc Fischer and Dr. J. Erin Staples of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 17 countries or territories in the Caribbean had cases of Chikungunya virus, spreading rapidly in the Caribbean.

These countries include:

1. Anguilla
2. Antigua and Barbuda
3. Aruba
4. Barbados
5. British Virgin Islands
6. Dominica
7. Dominican Republic
8. French Guiana
9. Guadeloupe
10. Guyana
11. Haiti
12. Martinique
13. Puerto Rico
14. Saint Barthelemy
15. Saint Kitts and Nevis
16. Saint Lucia
17. Saint Martin
18. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
19. Saint Maarten
20. Virgin Islands (UK)