Presumptive diagnosis:

This is made on the basis of the patient's clinical features, places and dates of travel (if the patient is from a non-endemic country or area), activities, and epidemiologic history of the location where infection occurred.

Laboratory diagnosis:

The laboratory diagnosis of chikungunya involves the testing of serum or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Through this testing, presence of virus-specific IgM and neutralizing antibodies are detected.

In some fatal cases, laboratory tests like nucleic acid amplification, histopathology with immune histochemistry, and virus culture of biopsy or autopsy tissues can be conducted.