title: Chikungunya: a bending reality.
abstract: Chikungunya fever is an acute illness caused by the arbovirus Chikungunya virus. The virus is transmitted primarily in a sylvatic cycle involving the Aedes mosquitoes. Since 2005, a Chikungunya fever outbreak of unprecedented magnitude occurred on several Indian Ocean islands. Since then, the disease has spread to many parts of the world due to imported cases among travellers returning from epidemic areas. Chikungunya virus causes a wide spectrum of illness including fever, a characteristic rash, disabling joint symptoms which can sometimes become severe that lasts months. This review summarises on this history of Chikungunya fever, host specificity, the characteristics of Chikungunya virus, clinical features of disease and current control measures. It focuses on how the re-emergence of an old changed the outlook of managing arboviral diseases in the present social and public health context.
authors.affiliation: Singapore Immunology Network, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Immunos, Singapore.
authors.forename: Zhisheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Her
authors.forename: Yiu-Wing
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Kam
authors.forename: Raymond T P
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Lisa F P
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Ng
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000821:virology; D018354:Alphavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D000818:Animals; D002646:Chikungunya virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D014943:Global Health; D007195:Indian Ocean Islands / Q000453:epidemiology; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000821:virology