摘要Objective:The study involved survey and screening of areas suspected of chikungunya virus (CHIKV)infection, characterizing the causative agent and identifying the circulatingCHIKV genotype.Methods: Acute phase samples were screened by the use ofRTPCR using primer setDVRChk-F/DVRChk-R whereas convalescent samples were tested byCHIKV IgM strips. Results: Two hundred and seventy five acute phase samples were screened by RT-PCR, of which 149(54.18%) showed positivity forCHIKV. Later on192 convalescent phase samples were tested forCHIKV specific antibodies in which125(65.10%) samples were found to be positive. Four CHIKV strains were selected and subjected to cloning followed by nucleotide sequencing and were submitted to the GenbankDNAdatabase with the Accession numbers(GQ119362,GQ119363, GQ119364, andFJ225403). The Sequence analysis of“CHIK-Kadapa” strain(GQ119362)with other CHIKV isolates suggested that the present CHIKV strain has (99.23± 0.52) % and100 %identity with Central East South African isolates(CESA) at nucleotide and amino acid levels respectively. Two unique non synonymous mutations S168L andD183Vwere depicted in E1 gene of the selected strains of the present study.Conclusions:The14 months survey revealed the circulation of CHIKV in2008-2009in Andhra Pradesh and the causative agent is identified to be of Central East South African(CESA) origin. The importance of the non synonymous mutations (S168L and D183V) and their role in the mobility and strength of theE1-E1andE1-E2 interactions needs further investigations. The study also urges the need for intensifying the epidemiological and entomological surveillance to combat any suchCHIKV outbreak in the near future.