Led by the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health at NDM, the scientists are set to investigate the number of children and adults affected by chikungunya at sites in Kenya and Tanzania.
Chikungunya is typically characterised by fever and severe joint pain, which is often debilitating and can last for weeks, months or even years, severely impacting quality of life. Other symptoms include muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue, and rash. Some populations are at higher risk of severe disease and death.
While chikungunya outbreaks are occurring with increasing regularity around the world—with over 480,000 cases reported this year globally—testing remains largely limited in East Africa and there is concern that cases are largely going unreported.
From early spring 2025, all patients, including children, presenting at ten healthcare facilities across the two countries with fever or neurological symptoms will therefore be screened and tested for chikungunya virus.
The new research—known as the Accelerating CHIkungunya burden Estimation to inform Vaccine Evaluation (ACHIEVE) study—will be supported by USD 10.3 million (GBP 7.9 million) funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
The ACHIEVE study team—which includes scientists at the University of Oxford, University of Nairobi, the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)-Centre for Global Health Research, the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme and the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania—will collect this information over the next three years to better estimate the number of people with chikungunya in the region and inform outbreak planning efforts.
Professor George Warimwe, Lead of the ACHIEVE study and Professor of Vaccinology at the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, said: ‘We lack good estimates of the burden of chikungunya in East Africa, and the clinical manifestations of disease are not well characterised, especially in children. This investment is an important step towards improving our understanding of chikungunya in the region that will ultimately inform disease control strategies.’
The study will also provide important data to advance the development of a vaccine against chikungunya. The first-ever chikungunya vaccine—developed by French pharmaceutical company Valneva with support from CEPI and the European Commission —was licensed last year in the US and has since been approved in Canada and the European Union. CEPI and partners are now working to accelerate access to the vaccines in outbreak-affected regions who are most at risk from the disease, such as East Africa.
Dr Gabrielle Breugelmans, Director of Epidemiology and Data Science at CEPI said: ‘Having better insights into chikungunya’s prevalence and its associated symptoms will be crucial in guiding the design and implementation of future vaccine trials and vaccination programmes in affected countries. Understanding at-risk groups in East Africa will also help determine the necessary number of chikungunya vaccine doses to be included in global stockpiles for potential future deployment. Additionally, these insights will enable the development of targeted deployment strategies tailored to different locations, based on the varying epidemiological patterns.'
Outbreaks of the debilitating chikungunya disease are occurring with increasing regularity around the world. For example, Brazil has been grappling with an outbreak of over 390,000 Chikungunya cases so far this year. Altogether, it is estimated that more than a billion people live in areas at-risk of Chikungunya transmission, with climate change furthering the virus’s spread.
The ACHIEVE study research team will also look at other important research areas including:
- The prevalence of chikungunya among pregnant women which may lead to mother-to-child virus transmission.
- The economic burden associated with chikungunya on local health systems and communities.
- The diversity of chikungunya virus strains in the region which could help to improve understanding of the range of viral mutations that vaccines should be targeting.
ACHIEVE forms part of CEPI and the University of Oxford’s strategic partnership launched in 2023 to advance preparedness against known and novel infectious disease threats.