To the Editor:
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an enveloped, spherical single-stranded RNA virus about 60–70 nm in diameter, belonging to the alphavirus genus and family Togaviridae. CHIKV is transmitted by Aedes species mosquito vectors and causes an acute disabling illness characterized by high fever and severe arthralgia called chikungunya fever (CHIKF)1,2. The word chikungunya means “the one which bends up” in the Makonde dialect of Tanzania; it refers to severe joint pain characteristic of acute disease2. CHIKV was isolated in Tanzania in 1952 during a dengue-like outbreak1,2,3. Since then, CHIKV has caused outbreaks in Africa, Asia, the Indian Ocean region, and Europe, with severe medical and economic effects1. In December 2013, CHIKV was reported in the Americas on the island of Saint Martin. Since then, more than 2.9 million cases have been reported in 45 countries in North, Central, and South America3.
The history of CHIKF in the Americas is probably at least 200 years old4. For centuries, CHIKV existed in forested regions of eastern Africa in an …
Address correspondence to Dr. R. Schoen, 60 Temple St., Suite 6A, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, USA. E-mail: robert.schoen{at}yale.ed