( CNN ) -- Chikungunya -- a tropical disease with a funny name that packs a wallop like having your bones crushed -- has finally taken up residence in the United States . Ever since the first local transmission of chikungunya was reported in the Americas late last year , health officials have been bracing for the arrival of the debilitating , mosquito-borne virus in the United States . Just seven months after the first cases were found in the Caribbean , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first locally acquired case of chikungunya in Florida . Even though chikungunya is not on the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System list , 31 states and two U.S. territories have reported cases of the disease since the beginning of the year . But only Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands reported locally acquired cases . All the other cases were travelers who were infected in countries where the virus was endemic and were diagnosed upon returning to the United States . That ended Thursday , when the CDC reported a man in Florida , who had not recently traveled outside the country , came down with the illness . As of right now , the Florida Department of Health confirmed there are at least two cases . One case is in Miami Dade County and the other is in Palm Beach County . Its arrival did not surprise the chair of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control Board . `` It was just a matter of when . We are prepared in the Keys and have been prepared for some time to deal with chikungunya , '' Steve Smith said . `` From what I am seeing , I 'm sure there are more cases out there that we do n't know about . It 's really a matter of time . '' The CDC is working closely with the Florida Department of Health to investigate how the patient came down with the virus . The CDC will also monitor for additional locally acquired U.S. cases in the coming weeks and months . The virus , which can cause joint pain and arthritis-like symptoms , has been on the U.S. public health radar for some time . Usually about 25 to 28 infected travelers bring it to the United States each year . But this new case represents the first time that mosquitoes themselves are thought to have transferred the disease within the continental United States . `` The arrival of chikungunya virus , first in the tropical Americas and now in the United States , underscores the risks posed by this and other exotic pathogens , '' said Roger Nasci , chief of CDC 's Arboviral Diseases Branch . `` This emphasizes the importance of CDC 's health security initiatives designed to maintain effective surveillance networks , diagnostic laboratories and mosquito control programs both in the United States and around the world . '' The virus is not deadly , but it can be extremely painful , with symptoms lasting for weeks . Those with weak immune systems , such as the elderly , are more likely to suffer from the virus ' side effects than those who are healthier . About 60 % to 90 % of those infected will have symptoms , says Nasci . People infected with chikungunya will often have severe joint pain , particularly in their hands and feet , and can also quickly get very high fevers . The good news , said Dr. William Schaffner , an infectious diseases expert with Vanderbilt University in Nashville , is that the United States is more sophisticated when it comes to controlling mosquitoes than many other nations and should be able to keep the problem under control . `` We live in a largely air-conditioned environment , and we have a lot of screening ( window screens , porch screens ) , '' Shaffner said . `` So we can separate the humans from the mosquito population , but we can not be completely be isolated . '' Mosquito-borne virus worries CDC . Chikungunya was originally identified in East Africa in the 1950s . Then about 10 years ago , chikungunya spread to the Indian Ocean and India , and a few years later an outbreak in northern Italy sickened about 200 people . Now at least 74 countries plus the United States are reporting local transmission of the virus . The ecological makeup of the United States supports the spread of an illness such as this , especially in the tropical areas of Florida and other Southern states , according to the CDC . The other concern is the type of mosquito that carries the illness . Unlike most mosquitoes that breed and prosper outside from dusk to dawn , the chikungunya virus is most often spread to people by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes , which are most active during the day , which makes it difficult to use the same chemical mosquito control measures . These are the same mosquitoes that transmit the virus that causes dengue fever . The disease is transmitted from mosquito to human , human to mosquito and so forth . A female mosquito of this type lives three to four weeks and can bite someone every three to four days . Shaffner and other health experts recommend people remember the mosquito-control basics : . -- Use bug spray if you are going out , especially in tropical or wooded areas near water . -- Get rid of standing water in empty plastic pools , flower pots , pet dishes and gutters to eliminate mosquito breeding grounds . -- Wear long sleeves and pants .
The first local cases of chikungunya arrived in Florida . The mosquito-borne virus creates painful arthritis-like symptoms . The Florida Keys Mosquito Control Board chair says more cases likely .