WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (WTXL) Health officials say two people bitten by mosquitoes in Florida have contracted the chikungunya virus.
The cases confirmed in Miami-Dade and West Palm Beach counties mark the first incidents of the virus being contracted domestically. The dozens of previously reported cases were contracted through travel to the Caribbean.
The Florida Department of Health says the locally-contracted cases were caused by a mosquito biting a person who was infected in the Caribbean, then in turn biting another person
Chikingunya is rarely fatal, but can lead to symptoms that can last months and even years.
