Researchers were able to predict further adaptations of the chikungunya virus, which recently was spread from Africa across several continents.
The virus is expected to continue spreading; it is extremely adaptable in new environments, boosting its ability to circulate, a University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston news release reported. The "number and complexity" of these adaptations relies on how hospitable the virus' host is.
"A typical infection involves very severe arthritic symptoms, leaving the sufferer severely afflicted by pain to the point where people can't work or function normally," UTMB professor Scott Weaver, lead author of this paper that will be published in Nature Communications, said in the news release. "Chikungunya continues to be a major threat to public health around the world."
One in every 1,000 chikungunya virus infections results in a fatal disease.
Researchers found a recently-emerged strain of the virus adapted itself to be hosted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito well as the Asian tiger mosquito, A. albopictus, which is found on every continent except for Antarctica.
A mutation in the Indian Ocean strain occurred as a result of a single adaptive change in the genetic code of the virus. In this change only one protein is altered.
The research looked at recent developments in the chikungunya virus' evolution in hopes of predicting future trends as well as determining the risk of an epidemic. The team also identified an initial adaptation that could lead to the second "wave" of adaptations. These adaptations could allow the virus to be transmitted more easily between humans.
"Although a different chikungunya virus strain from the Asian lineage is now circulating in the Americas, the introduction of the Indian Ocean lineage could put temperate regions where A. albopictus thrives at risk for expansion of epidemic circulation," Weaver said.
