CBS News Twenty-one children are among 33 people who have died in Cuba of the mosquito-borne chikungunya and dengue viruses since July, authorities said Monday.
Most of the deaths were attributed to chikungunya — characterized by fever and joint pain that can be debilitating but rarely fatal — while the flu-like dengue claimed 12 lives, the country’s deputy health minister Carilda Pena said on state TV.
The chikungunya virus emerged in Cuba’s western Matanzas province in July, but soon spread to all 15 provinces of the country of 9.7 million people.
The chikungunya virus was first identified in Africa in the early 1950s. Chikungunya’s symptoms include severe joint aches, fever, and fatigue, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms usually start within three to seven days after a bite from an infected mosquito, the CDC says.
Most people recover within a week, according to the agency, though some experience severe joint pain for months or even years after their illness. Deaths are rare, the CDC says. Newborns infected around the time of birth, people over 65, and people with preexisting medical conditions are most likely to experience severe illness, the CDC says.