Chikungunya infection: First autochthonous cases in Taiwan

Meng-Yu Chen; Angela Song-En Huang; Cheng-Fen Yang; Tung-Chien Hsu; Tyz-Chen Wang; Chien-Ling Su; Mei-Chun Chang; Shih-Huan Peng; Pei-Yun Shu

doi:10.1016/j.jfma.2020.10.032

Chikungunya infection: First autochthonous cases in Taiwan

J Formos Med Assoc. 2021 Jul;120(7):1526-1530. doi: 10.1016/j.jfma.2020.10.032. Epub 2020 Nov 12.

Authors

Meng-Yu Chen¹, Angela Song-En Huang², Cheng-Fen Yang², Tung-Chien Hsu², Tyz-Chen Wang², Chien-Ling Su², Mei-Chun Chang², Shih-Huan Peng², Pei-Yun Shu³

Affiliations

¹ Centers for Disease Control, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: mengyuchen@cdc.gov.tw.
² Centers for Disease Control, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ Centers for Disease Control, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: pyshu@cdc.gov.tw.

PMID: 33191091
DOI: 10.1016/j.jfma.2020.10.032

Abstract

The first autochthonous case and the first outbreak of chikungunya in Taiwan occurred during July-October 2019, with a total of 21 cases confirmed. Genetic analysis revealed the strains belonged to East/Central/South African genotype and had 99.95%-100% identity with the strains from the imported cases from Myanmar in 2019. This event confirmed that the imported chikungunya cases has the potential to cause autochthonous transmission in Taiwan; intensified surveillance and vector control measures are essential to contain the outbreak.

Keywords: Autochthonous; Chikungunya; Chikungunya virus; Outbreak; Taiwan.

MeSH terms

Chikungunya Fever* / epidemiology
Chikungunya virus* / genetics
Disease Outbreaks
Genotype
Humans
Phylogeny
Taiwan / epidemiology