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Chikungunya virus is an alphavirus of the Togaviridae family, positive-strand RNA genome, whichwas first recorded in Tanzania in 1952 and since then Chikungunya has been reported in Burma,Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, West Africa and thePhilippines. In the recent decade, Chikungunya is a severe global public health concern.Chikungunya predominantly transmitted by bites of mosquitoes of the Aedes genus (Aedes aegyptiand Aedes albopictus) the same mosquito that transmits Dengue fever, only female mosquitoes areinfective because they require a blood meal for the formation of the egg. Vertical transmissionoccurs between mother and fetus. The infected Chikungunya mosquitoes can be found for bitingthroughout daylight hours especially early morning and late afternoon. The Chikungunya viraldisease occurs in victims of all ages in both sexes. Following a bite by an infected mosquito, thedisease manifests itself after an average incubation period of 2-4 days (range: 3-12 days),predominant clinical features include, high fever, joint pain, rash, myalgia etc. Serum specimen iscollected within 5 days for the Reverse Transcriptase- Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT –PCR) todetect the viral RNA and ELISA/ICT detect anti-Chikungunya antibody (IgM and IgG) after 1stweak of infection. Specific treatment and a recognised vaccine are not available for Chikungunya,but symptomatic treatments are available like paracetamol and painkiller for high fever and localpain. Elimination of mosquito habitats is the best way to prevent and control of Chikungunyainfection. |
