Chikungunya Virus: An Emerging Threat to South East Asia Region

Chikungunya virus is an alphavirus of the Togaviridae family, positive-strand RNA genome, which was first recorded in Tanzania in 1952 and since then Chikungunya has been reported in Burma, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, West Africa and the Philippines. In the recent decade, Chikungunya is a severe global public health concern. Chikungunya predominantly transmitted by bites of mosquitoes of the Aedes genus (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus) the same mosquito that transmits Dengue fever, only female mosquitoes are infective because they require a blood meal for the formation of the egg. Vertical transmission occurs between mother and fetus. The infected Chikungunya mosquitoes can be found for biting throughout daylight hours especially early morning and late afternoon. The Chikungunya viral disease occurs in victims of all ages in both sexes. Following a bite by an infected mosquito, the disease manifests itself after an average incubation period of 2-4 days (range: 3-12 days), predominant clinical features include, high fever, joint pain, rash, myalgia etc. Serum specimen is collected within 5 days for the Reverse Transcriptase- Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT –PCR) to detect the viral RNA and ELISA/ICT detect anti-Chikungunya antibody (IgM and IgG) after 1st weak of infection. Specific treatment and a recognised vaccine are not available for Chikungunya, but symptomatic treatments are available like paracetamol and painkiller for high fever and local pain. Elimination of mosquito habitats is the best way to prevent and control of Chikungunya infection.