Cases of chikungunya fever imported from the islands of the South West Indian Ocean to Paris, France

An outbreak of chikungunya fever has been occurring in the islands of the South West Indian Ocean since early 2005. We describe the clinical and biological manifestations observed in 80 patients presenting with confirmed imported chikungunya fever in our infectious disease department between March 2005 and August 2006. Forty eight patients were women (60%) and the median age was 50 years (range: 15-75).