FLORENCE, Ala. - State health officials say two more people have tested positive for a mosquito-borne illness after traveling to the Caribbean.
Alabama Department of Public Health regional officer Karen Landers tells the TimesDaily of Florence two Colbert County residents who recently returned from a mission trip to Haiti tested positive for the chikungunya virus.
Landers says four people in the state have now tested positive for the virus. She says tests for additional people who may have contracted it are pending.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus is transmitted to people by mosquitoes and typically results in fever, joint pain and other flu-like symptoms.
Landers says most people who contract the virus recover in about a week.
The virus has also appeared in Tennessee: