The chikungunya case is believed to be the first that was contracted in the U.S.; other cases had been reported in people who had recently traveled to areas where the virus is prevalent.
“It’s certainly expected — a number of us had predicted it several years ago,” said Barry Beaty, a professor of virology at Colorado State University and a member of the Baltimore-based Global Virus Network’s chikungunya task force. “Mother Nature is conducting an experiment on us, unfortunately.”