New Chikungunya Virus Sequence Released by the CHU de La Réunion Team

Last updated on 02 May 2025

Key points

  • The Chikungunya virus strain, which re-emerged in Réunion Island in 2024, has undergone full genome sequencing.
  • The CHU de La Réunion has submitted the complete coding sequence of the strain isolated at the start of the outbreak to GenBank (accession number PV035814).
  • The viral strain will soon be available through the EVA collection as part of the EVA-GLOBAL project.

Following the major 2005–2006 outbreak, which affected 38% of the population in Réunion Island, CHIKV circulation remained undetected for several years. In 2024, the virus re-emerged and is currently causing a new epidemic on the island.

Étienne Frumence and Marie-Christine Jaffar-Bandjee, from the University Hospital Center (CHU) of Réunion Island, designated as the National Reference Centre for Arboviruses and Respiratory Viruses for the period 2023-2027, have published the complete coding sequence of the Chikungunya virus (CHIKV).

This sequence, obtained from one of the first confirmed cases in 2024, is now available in the GenBank database under number PV035814.

Publication of the complete coding sequence of the CHIKV virus from Réunion Island in 2024 (GenBank: PV035814)

The Chikungunya virus integrated into the EVA (European Virus Archive) genomic collection

Furthermore, the European Virus Archive (EVA) will soon make available the CHIKV strain isolated in 2025. This initiative is part of the EVA-GLOBAL project, whose mission is to collect, amplify, characterize, standardize, authenticate, and distribute viruses and derived products for the global scientific community. Collections from participating biobanks are centralized in an online catalog.