--- title: Beware Bugs at Your July 4th BBQ description: An Independence Day warning canonical: https://time.com/2956723/4th-of-july-bbq-bugs/ author: NBC News article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-04T13:20:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:58:48.548Z article:section: Health og:title: Beware Bugs at Your July 4th BBQ og:description: An Independence Day warning og:url: https://time.com/2956723/4th-of-july-bbq-bugs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f721ba0a6e91f7d/69869a97cd804d4d71ccbcf9/137865793.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Asian Tiger Mosquito biting on human skin og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Beware Bugs at Your July 4th BBQ twitter:description: An Independence Day warning twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f721ba0a6e91f7d/69869a97cd804d4d71ccbcf9/137865793.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Beware Bugs at Your July 4th BBQ > Sponsored content. 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But West Nile virus just might. Chikungunya has been making headlines because it’s spread rapidly across the Caribbean and Central America in just half a year, [infecting 260,000 people](http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com%5Fcontent&view=article&id=9053&Itemid=40695&lang=en) and killing 21\. But a recent study suggests the United States has a bit of time on its side… [Read the rest of the story on NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/bugs-your-july-4th-bbq-beware-chikungunya-west-nile-n147881?cid=par-time-article%5F20140704) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2956723/4th-of-july-bbq-bugs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2956723/4th-of-july-bbq-bugs/"},"headline":"Beware Bugs at Your July 4th BBQ","datePublished":"2014-07-04T13:20:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:58:48.548Z","description":"An Independence Day warning","url":"https://time.com/2956723/4th-of-july-bbq-bugs/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","Culture","fourth of july","July 4th"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f721ba0a6e91f7d/69869a97cd804d4d71ccbcf9/137865793.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f721ba0a6e91f7d/69869a97cd804d4d71ccbcf9/137865793.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Asian Tiger Mosquito biting on human skin","caption":"Asian Tiger Mosquito biting on human skin","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2956723/4th-of-july-bbq-bugs/","name":"Beware Bugs at Your July 4th BBQ"}}]}] ```