A painful virus inflection introduced by mosquitoes has been detected in Spain.
This is the first domestic case of the disease for someone who had not travelled to an area where it is prevalent.
A 60-year-old man was “most likely” to have been infected with chikungunya in Gandia, a seaside resort in Valencia, officials said.
“This is the first chikungunya case reported from Spain without travel history to endemic areas,” said a statement from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
All previous cases involved people who were infected while travelling abroad.
Last year 266 cases were recorded Spain, all imported, according to the National Epidemiology Centre, a unit of the health ministry.
Chikungunya is spread by two species of mosquito usually found in Africa and Asia.
It is painful, but not typically deadly. Symptoms include fever, headache and severe joint pain which can last for months.
The name comes from the East African Kimakonde language and translates roughly hunched over from pain.
