Sri Lanka, May 25 -- Sri Lanka is experiencing a large Chikungunya outbreak, the first in 16.

This was revealed by a new study shred by Prof. Chandima Jeewandara, the Director of the Allergy, Immunology and Cell Biology Unit of the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, which also shed crucial insight into the virus's origin and rapid spread.

The research confirms that the current outbreak is caused by the Indian Ocean Lineage of the Chikungunya virus, which is a lineage also prevalent in recent outbreaks across South Asia.

Analysis strongly suggests that the 2025 Sri Lankan strains were likely introduced from a single source, showing close clustering with strains from India and Pakistan detected in 2024.

This differs from the 2006-2008 S...