Chikungunya is a relatively rare form of viralfever caused by an alphavirus that is spread by mosquito bites from the Aedes aegyptimosquito, though recent research by the Pasteur Institute in Paris claims the virus has suffered a mutation that enables it to be transmitted by Aedes albopictus (Tiger mosquito). This was the cause of the plague in the Indian Ocean and a threat to the Mediterranean coast at present, requiring urgent meetings of health officials in France, Italy, and Spain.