In a follow-up on the chikungunya outbreak in Argentina, the Argentina National Epidemiological Surveillance System (BEN) reports 268 new cases of chikungunya fever during the week ending April 11.
To date, the total number of confirmed and probable cases is 837 (746 locally acquired and 91 with a history of travel to Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Cuba).
Image/CDC
Ninety-three percent of cases are concentrated in the Northwest region (NOA), with 782 confirmed and probable cases. Salta continues to be the province with the highest number of cases (494 confirmed and probable), but significant transmission clusters have also been identified in Tucumán (144 cases) and Jujuy (80 cases).
As for the rest of the country’s provinces, the upward trend continues. To date, 47 cases of chikungunya have been registered in Santiago del Estero and 17 in Catamarca. In the Central Region, Buenos Aires Province also has a high number of cases, with 28 confirmed and probable cases. It is followed by Córdoba with 14 cases and the City of Buenos Aires with 7. The remaining cases are located in Entre RÃos, San Luis (2 cases each), Santa Fe, and Chaco (1 case each).
Given this scenario, the national health ministry is maintaining intensified surveillance of Acute Febrile Syndrome of Nonspecific Origin (AFNE) to identify changes in viral circulation patterns, optimize response capacity, and support jurisdictions in strengthening their response. It also recommends that health services apply direct and confirmatory methods (such as qRT-PCR and NS1 ELISA) to samples taken during the first 6 days of symptoms, in order to provide timely information that allows for the characterization of circulating arboviruses and the generation of early alerts to guide local control measures.
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