epidemiological data indicating that one-third of
the island’s inhabitants became infected suggest that
CHIKV is highly successful. Humans, however, are
not defenceless, and in fact CHIKV is efficiently
cleared within 4–7 days of infection94–96 (FIG. 3). As
a typical adaptive immune response (for example,
CHIKV-specific B cell and T cell activation) requires
at least 1 week to develop, the innate immune system
seems to be capable of controlling CHIKV. Below we
discuss the innate and adaptive immune responses
that are known to control CHIKV infection.