Chikungunya Virus Imported into French Polynesia, 2014

To the Editor: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an emerging arthropodborne alphavirus of the family Togaviridae (1). The most common clinical manifestations of infection with CHIKV are abrupt onset of fever, headache, back pain, myalgia, and arthralgia affecting mainly the extremities; in ≈50% of patients, a rash develops, and relapsing and incapacitating arthralgia is common (1). Three CHIKV lineages have been characterized: West African, Asian, and East/Central/South African (1,2). The strain currently circulating in the Caribbean belongs to the Asian lineage (2).