Chikungunya Outbreaks from 2000 to 2015: A Review

Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne disease caused by an alphavirus from the Togaviridae family. The Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is transmitted by the Aedes mosquitoes, primarily Aedesaegypti and Aedesalbopictus, the Asian ‘Tiger’ mosquito. Chikungunya virus breeds in the skin, moves to the liver, muscle, lymphoid tissue and brain, through the blood. The usual clinical signs of chikungunya are non-specific flu-like symptoms, a distinctive rash and severe joint pains, which may last for several weeks, months or even years after the acute phase of the infection [1]. Complications of chikungunya include myocarditis, hepatitis, ocular and neurological disorders [2]. Chikungunya disease was initially seen in 1952 in remote Africa at the boundary of Tanzania and Mozambique. Chikungunya illness is transferred by Aedes mosquitoes, it bear a resemblance to dengue and numerous other arboviral viruses, but is often related with arthralgia [3] CHIKV causes significant morbidity and economic losses [4]. For nearly 50 years, the disease was limited to subSaharan Africa in addition to Southeast Asia. The situation worsened when CHIKV re-emerged in Kenya in 2004and reached several other countries in and around the Indian Ocean. The epidemic swiftly reached regions like India and Southeast Asia and transmission of CHIKV was reported for the first time in Europe in 2007 in Emilia-Romagna in the north-east of Italy. Soon after, CHIKV infection autochthonous (indigenous) transmission was reported in south-eastern France, with 2 established cases in 2010 September [5]. There is no vaccine or a specific antiviral treatment for CHIKV. The purpose of this review is to summarize CHIKV outbreaks that have been reported in the 15-year period from 2000 to 2015 to show that periodic outbreaks have occurred not only in Asia and Africa, but in Europe and the Americas. Although rates of chikungunya infection are variable globally, depending on outbreaks, continuous surveillance of the disease is crucial.