Is chikungunya virus something we should be concerned about and paying attention to in the US?

"The answer is not ‘no.’

Chikungunya is transmitted by Aedes aegypti, which we have in South Florida, South Texas, Arizona, California… a little bit in Louisiana. Dengue virus is also transmitted by this mosquito species, so we can look at where we’ve had outbreaks of dengue to see where is most at-risk: Miami, South Texas, Southern California…

But chikungunya also is transmitted by the Asian Tiger Mosquito – Aedes albopictus – of which we have a lot in more temperate areas like most of Louisiana, and up into New York. This is the mosquito with the black and white stripes on her legs and a stripe down what can be thought of as her ‘head.’ So in addition to where aegypti is, we have to worry about a larger swath of the US at-risk for chikungunya. There are so many factors that contribute to how at-risk a particular place is – the temperature, the environment, etc.

In places where there is mosquito avoidance infrastructure, there will be less risk."