title: How Chikungunya Virus Virology Affects Its Epidemiology and Transmission: Implications for Influencing Public Health.
abstract: Chikungunya virus has been causing a series of ongoing epidemics around the globe for the past 12 years. During that time, estimates indicate that >4 million cases occurred worldwide. Despite the magnitude of these outbreaks and the broad interest in understanding the virus and disease, significant gaps still exist in our knowledge base. An in-depth understanding of the basic virological elements that can affect the epidemiology of the agent is critical for future development of control and treatment products. This work describes how knowledge of various viral genetic and structural elements has begun to advance the development of vaccines and therapeutics and suggests that further knowledge is needed to provide additional options.
authors.affiliation: Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado.
authors.forename: Ann M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Powers
mesh_terms: D065632:Chikungunya Fever / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D002646:Chikungunya virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control; D058872:Epidemics / Q000517:prevention & control; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health; D014765:Viral Vaccines
chemical_list: D014765:Viral Vaccines
keywords: chikungunya; epidemiology; transmission