A mosquito-borne virus commonly known as chikungunya has entered the US soil as officials reported the first case acquired in the country on July 17 in Florida.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the national health public institute of United States, said that from 2006-2013, an average of 28 Americans per year are positive for chilungunya.

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All have traveled from areas where the virus is common, mainly in Asia, and were returning in the United States.

According to the Institute, cases of American travellers infected by the virus from the Caribbean have also been identified starting in 2014.

Beginning on July 15, 357 cases of the virus was reported to ArboNET, a national surveillance system that monitors arboviral or mosquito-borne diseases, with 123 positive cases from the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico,

On Thursday, health officials confirmed that the first two cases of infection acquired locally in the US have been reported in Florida.

A 50-year-old man in Palm Beach, Florida, who has no travel history, was confirmed positive with the virus by CDC.

The second case reported in Miami Dade Country where a woman, aged 41, was also confirmed positive with the locally acquired chikungunya.

Local transmission of the virus occurs when a mosquito bites a virus-infected person and bites another.

Chikungunya, an African word which means "contorted with pain", is transmitted by mosquitoes known as Aedes to humans.

The virus is common in Africa, Asia and Europe and has been recently discovered in Caribbean this year.

The first case of Chikungunya virus was recorded in Tanzania in 1952 where the virus was also named.

Chikungunya is not fatal but can bring pain extremities to the victim.

The virus' incubation period stretches from one to 12 days, normally two to three days, where the victim develops symptoms.

Symptoms of chikungunya virus include fever, spots or rashes in the skin and joint or muscle pains. Nausea, headache, vomiting and eye inflammation may also develop.

As of now, there are no vaccines for the illness though patients recover from the disease about a week but the pain can last longer.  

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