Abstract
In October 2014, 12 autochthonous chikungunya cases, 11 confirmed and 1 probable, were detected in a district of Montpellier, southern France, a town colonized by the vector Aedes albopictus since 2010. An imported case from Cameroon living in the same district that the autochtonous case was identified as the index case. The epidemiological investigations and the numerous vector control treatments performed in the area and around places frequented by cases helped to contain the outbreak.While the chikungunya and dengue surveillance system in mainland France had been challenged by numerous imported cases due to the chikungunya epidemic ongoing in the Caribbean Islands, this first significant outbreak of chikungunya in Europe since the 2007 Italian epidemic was due to an imported case from Africa. This episode reminds us that the risk of a chikungunya epidemic is now present within the European population.