ABSTRACT
Chikungunya is an alphavirus member of the Togaviridae family (Robinson, 1955), first described in 1952 when an outbreak was observed in southern Tanzania (Pialoux et al., 2007). The term chikungunya is derived from an African Makonde word ‘kungunyala’ which means ‘that which bends up’, following the stooped posture adopted as a result of the arthritic symptoms of the disease (Mohan et al., 2010). The virus is transmitted by the aedine mosquito species, which also transmit Zika and Dengue viruses; the main disease vectors are Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Pialoux et al., 2007; Schuffenecker et al., 2006; Tsetsarkin et al., 2007). The virus is transmitted to humans through bites from female aedine mosquitoes infected with the chikungunya virus. These mosquitoes may bite at any time, but they are most active outdoors in the early morning (dawn) or late afternoon (dusk) (Chow et al., 2015). Mosquitoes inside the home are active both night and day.
