Chikungunya fever, caused by infection with mosquito borne alphavirus is an acute nonfatal illness characterized by fever, rash, myalgia, arthralgia and sometimes inflammatory arthritis. During 2007, central
Kerala experienced a chikungunya fever epidemic of unprecedented magnitude. There were unusual skin manifestations like peeling of scrotal skin, non-healing ulcer and soft tissue necrosis. cDNA copy of a portion
of the viral genome was synthesized in a reverse transcription reaction in the presence of specific primers for the E1 region of the S27 African strain of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) followed by polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) amplification.