An American tourist has contracted the mosquito-borne Chikunyunya virus in Colombia's Caribbean city of Cartagena, the country's Ministry of Health confirmed on Thursday.
The American tourist tested positive for the Chikungunya virus, which is carried and transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes, confirmed Fernando Valderrama, deputy director of contagious diseases of the ministry.
"The U.S. National Liaison Center notified Colombia of this tourist, who was once in Cartagena. We are requesting additional information for specific areas where this tourist had been," Valderrama told Colombia's Caracol Radio network.
The announcement was made hours after the deputy health minister, Fernando Ruiz Gomez, who confirmed the first case of the Chikungunya virus in the northern Colombian province of Bolivar.
A group of doctors has been sent to the country's northern region for the virus as five cases have been reported in the Andean country.
Ruiz indicated that the virus is expected to spread and cause 700,000 cases within four months.
The Chikungunya virus is rarely fatal. People infected by the virus typically suffer acute fever, joint pain, swelling, muscle aches, headaches or rash. Patients usually recover in about a week, although some people suffer long-term joint pain. There is no vaccine and no specific treatment for it.