A REVIEW ON CHIKUNGUNYA VIRUS

Abstract

Mosquitoes transmit numerous arboviruses including dengue and chikungunya virus (CHIKV). Chikungunya is a re-emerging arthropod-borne viral disease caused by Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) belonging to the Togaviridae family of genus Alphavirus. It is a virus with a single stranded, positive sense RNA, as its genome. It is maintained in a sylvatic and urban cycle involving humans and the mosquito species Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. It has a major health impact on humans as it causes fever, rashes, arthralgia and myalgia. Polyarthralgia is the most important feature of CHIKV infection which primarily affects the small joints of the wrists and fingers along with the large joints like shoulders and knees. Currently, there are no vaccines or treatment regimens available for CHIKV infection. The molecular mechanism underlying the chronic polyarthralgia observed in patients is not well understood. The abundance of bacteria from the Enterobacteriaceae family increased with CHIKV infection whereas the abundance of known insect endosymbionts like Wolbachia and Blattabacterium decreased. In this review we have summarized the CHIKV organization, replication, epidemiology, clinical manifestations and pathogenesis with emphasis on the arthralgia.