Chikungunya Virus: Difference between revisions

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== Natural Host: ==
== Natural Host: ==
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The virus is transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Virus infects during its life cycle arthropod and vertebrate hosts. Viral host belongs to the Domain Eucarya, Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Arthropoda and Chordata, Subphylum Hexapoda; Class Insecta; Subclass Pterygota; Order Diptera.


== When was your organism discovered? ==
== When was your organism discovered? ==

Revision as of 15:47, 13 May 2009

(CC) Photo: www.microbiologybytes.com
Chikungunya Virus.

Classification

GROUP: GROUP IV SINGLE STRANDED POSITIVE SENSE RNA

FAMILY: Togaviridae

GENUS: Alphavirus

SPECIES: Chikungunya virus

ORDER: not assigned

VIRUS ACCESSION NUMBER: 73001507

ICTVdB VIRUS CODE: 00.073.0.01.007.00.000.002.

ICTV approved acronym: CHIKV

Description and significance:

Chikungunya virus is an arthropod borne virus from the genus Alphavirus and family Togaviridae. It was first isolated in Tanzania, Africa in 1953 and has sporadically caused human epidemics in South-east Asia, southern India. Chikungunya is a zoonotic virus with a life cycle that principally involves primates and the Aedes mosquitoes. Humans that are infected may develop relatively high viremias and fever that can elevate up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Aedes aegypti (also called the yellow fever mosquito) is the primary transmission agent for Chikungunya. It is usually found in tropics and that is the reason it is predominantly seen in Asian countries. Chikungunya has also spread across the globe in recent years and remains a viral disease with no anti-viral medication available. The clinical picture is characterized by a sudden onset of fever, rash and severe pain in the joints. The name Chikungunya comes from the Swahili language for stooped walk, reflecting the physique of a person suffering from the disease. Chikungunya fever is also called the “bone-breaker fever”. The family Togaviridae includes viruses like O’nyong nyong and Igba Oro, which are closely related to Chikungunya and induce the same disease in humans.

Natural Host:

The virus is transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Virus infects during its life cycle arthropod and vertebrate hosts. Viral host belongs to the Domain Eucarya, Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Arthropoda and Chordata, Subphylum Hexapoda; Class Insecta; Subclass Pterygota; Order Diptera.

When was your organism discovered?

How and where it was isolated:

Genome structure:

Interesting Features:

How does this organism cause disease?

What makes it biologically interesting?

Its application to Biotechnology... its medical importance... major research findings made with it... what's cool about myxoma virus as an organism:

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