"Chikungunya",comes from the Kimakonde language, meaning "that which bends up".This name was given owing to the stooped posture causingpain (arthralgia). Chikungunya had first outbreak in southern Tanzania in 1952.The virusis a single stranded (genus alpha);RNA virus belonging to the family Togaviridae.This virus is transferred to humans through daytime biting mosquitoes.The precise mechanism of access of this virus into mammalian cells is still under research. Most of the investigation has been from the Asian countries.