Chikungunya virus

A mutation involving the alteration of a single nucleotide in the genetic sequence of chikungunyavirus may be responsible for the massive outbreak of infection. The outbreak has lead to illness in residents of La Reunion, an island in Indian Ocean. Aedes albopticus mosquitoes from this island fed on blood containing the mutated virus which could more efficiently cross the midgut and invade salivary glands and thus readily transmitted to human host.