Other Mosquito Borne Viruses

Traveling outside Cook County? Be aware that besides the local diseases that mosquitoes transmit, there are several more mosquito borne diseases such as Malaria, Dengue, Yellow Fever, Eastern Equine Encephalitis and Chikungunya Virus that you can come into contact with.

For more information about these diseases, click on the highlighted name of the disease and you will be redirected to the Center For Disease Control website.

• Chikungunya Virus In late 2013, chikungunya virus was found for the first time in the Americas on islands in the Caribbean. There is a risk that the virus will be imported to new areas by infected travelers. There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat chikungunya virus infection.
• Dengue With more than one-third of the world’s population living in areas at risk for infection, dengue virus is a leading cause of illness and death in the tropics and subtropics. As many as 400 million people are infected yearly.
• Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus EEE is a rare disease that is caused by a virus spread by infected mosquitoes. EEE virus (EEEV) is one of a group of mosquito-transmitted viruses that can cause inflammation of the brain (encephalitis). In the United States, approximately 5-10 EEE cases are reported annually.
• Malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite. People with malaria often experience fever, chills, and flu-like illness. Left untreated, they may develop severe complications and die. In 2016 an estimated 216 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide and 445,000 people died.
• Yellow Fever The yellow fever virus is found in tropical and subtropical areas of Africa and South America. The virus is spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito. Yellow fever is a very rare cause of illness in U.S. travelers.