Chikungunya Fever

Abstract

Chikungunya fever is a viral disease transmitted to humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes. Chikungunya virus(CHIKV) is a member of the genus Alphavirus, in the family Togaviridae. CHIKV was first isolated from the blood of a febrile patient in Tanzania in 1953, and has since been identified repeatedly in west, central and southern Africa and many areas of Asia, and has been cited as the cause of numerous human epidemics in those areas since that time. The virus circulates throughout much of Africa, with transmission thought to occur mainly between mosquitoes and monkeys. This disease is almost always self-limited and rarely fatal. In addition to ongoing outbreaks on the Indian Ocean islands of Mayotte, Mauritius, Riunion (territory of France), and the Seychelles, a chikungunya fever outbreak has been reported from three states in India (Karnataka, Maharastra, and Andra Pradesh). Travelers to all these areas are recommended to take precautions to avoid mosquito bites.