Chikungunya Virus Uveitis during French Polynesia Outbreak, 2014-2015

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an emerging arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) of the genus Alphavirus in the family Togaviridae. CHIKV is transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes; materno-foetal transmission and transmission via corneal graft have been reported. During the past decade, the status of chikungunya has changed, from a relatively uncommon and poorly documented disease, to an emerging disease, and now to a global public health concern. CHIKV now circulates in all inhabited continents. From 2011, CHIKV emerged in the Pacific region and was responsible for a massive outbreak in French Polynesia in 2014-2015 affecting about 25% of the population in a context of co-circulation with dengue virus (DENV). CHIKV mainly causes acute fever and severe and persistent polyarthralgia. Ocular involvement has been described during chikungunya fever but few were well-documented. We herein report a laboratory-confirmed case of CHIKV-associated uveitis during the French Polynesia outbreak.