Analytical and clinical performance of a Chikungunya qRT-PCR for Central and South America.

Chikungunya was introduced into the Americas in 2015 causing a pandemic across the continent. Testing during the acute phase of infection relies on qRT-PCR, but available assays have a number of limitations. A qRT-PCR assay specific to the chikungunya E1 gene was designed using sequence data from contemporary strains.