Chikungunya

About Chikungunya

Key points

• Chikungunya virus is spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito.
• Symptoms can include fever, joint pain, headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, and rash.
• There are no medicines to treat chikungunya virus disease (chikungunya).
• Vaccination is recommended for some travelers.
• Woman feeling sick and experiencing headache.

Overview

Chikungunya virus is spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito. Outbreaks have occurred in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. There is a risk the virus can spread to unaffected areas by infected travelers.

The most common symptoms of chikungunya are fever and joint pain. Other symptoms can include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, or rash.

There are currently no medicines to treat chikungunya. The best way to prevent chikungunya is to protect yourself from mosquito bites. Vaccination is recommended for some travelers.

Chikungunya: Causes and How It Spreads

Key points

• Chikungunya virus disease (chikungunya) is caused by a virus primarily spread to people through the bite of infected mosquitoes.
• If infected, people can spread the virus to mosquitoes and rarely to other people.
• The risk of a person spreading the virus is highest during the first week of illness.
• A female Aedes aegypti mosquito while she in the process of acquiring a blood meal from her human host

Primary cause

Chikungunya is caused by a virus that can be found in many parts of the world, including Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

The virus belongs to a group of viruses called alphaviruses. Other alphaviruses causing a similar disease include Mayaro virus and Ross River virus.

How it spreads

People can become infected with chikungunya virus when mosquitoes feed on another infected person and then bite them.

People infected with chikungunya virus have high enough levels of virus in their blood (viremia) during the first few days of illness to transmit the virus to mosquitoes.

Prevent getting infected with chikungunya virus by preventing mosquito bites and getting vaccinated before traveling, if vaccination is recommended for you.

Because of the high level of virus in blood, spread can occur through:

• Blood transfusion
• Handling infected blood in the laboratory
• Drawing blood from an infected patient
• The virus is not spread from person-to-person and is not spread through coughing, sneezing, or touching.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding

Rarely the infection can be spread from a pregnant woman to her fetus, mostly during the second trimester.

If the pregnant woman is infected around the time of delivery, the baby can be infected at birth (i.e., intrapartum transmission), often resulting in severe disease in the baby.

Chikungunya virus has not been found in breast milk, and there have been no reports to date of infants being infected through breastfeeding.

Talk to your doctor if you are breastfeeding and have chikungunya or if you are in an area where the virus is circulating.