Chikungunya Virus and the Global Spread of a Mosquito-Borne Disease
Abstract
Chikungunya virus is a mosquito-borne alphavirus; its name comes from a Makonde word describing the bent posture of persons with the severe arthralgia that is a hallmark of chikungunya fever, the disease caused by the virus.1 Chikungunya virus was first isolated after a 1952–1953 epidemic in present-day Tanzania. Outbreaks were subsequently identified in Asia during the 1950s and 1960s [...]