Chikungunya Virus and the Global Spread of a Mosquito-Borne Disease

Chikungunya virus infection is a rapid-onset, febrile disease with intense asthenia, arthralgia, myalgia, headache, and rash. This mosquito-borne alphavirus has spread throughout the Caribbean and into much of Central America. Further spread in the Americas seems likely. Chikungunya Virus and Chikungunya Fever Chikungunya virus is a mosquito-borne alphavirus; its name comes from a Makonde word describing the bent posture of persons with the severe arthralgia that is a hallmark of chikungunya fever, the disease caused by the virus. 1 Chikungunya virus was first isolated after a 1952–1953 epidemic in present-day Tanzania. Outbreaks were subsequently identified in Asia during the 1950s and 1960s. Like the related alphaviruses found in Australia and other parts of Oceania, as well as in South America, chikungunya virus causes an acute febrile illness that is typically accompanied by severe arthralgia. Alphaviruses have a single-stranded, . . .