--- title: Lindsay Lohan Is Battling the Chikungunya Virus description: Chikungunya causes debilitating joint pain canonical: https://time.com/3651313/lindsay-lohan-chikungunya-virus/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-31T19:22:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:12:55.250Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Lindsay Lohan Is Battling the Chikungunya Virus og:description: Chikungunya causes debilitating joint pain. og:url: https://time.com/3651313/lindsay-lohan-chikungunya-virus/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lindsay Lohan Is Battling the Chikungunya Virus twitter:description: Chikungunya causes debilitating joint pain. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Lindsay Lohan Is Battling the Chikungunya Virus  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Dec 31, 2014 7:22 PM CUT  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Dec 31, 2014 7:22 PM CUT Lindsay Lohan says she has contracted the chikungunya virus while on vacation in French Polynesia. The celeb first [tweeted](https://twitter.com/lindsaylohan/status/549026356038627328 "undefined") a photo of herself on Dec. 27 jet skiing, noting that the picture was taken “before I got chikungya.” She posted another picture to her Instagram on Dec. 28: “In good faith with good people. I refuse to let a virus effect my peaceful vacation. be safe and happy on the new year all #wildfox and a positive, healthy new year,” she wrote in the photo’s caption. **Read more:** [1 million people have a disease you’ve never heard of](http://time.com/3631711/chikungunya-epidemic-2014/ "undefined") Chikungunya, which is often compared to dengue fever, is transmitted through mosquito bites, and its symptoms include fever, fatigue, rash and debilitating joint pain. There is no cure, and the pain can last for months. Though scientists have known about chikungunya for decades, it has suddenly spread rapidly in the last year from Africa to the Caribbean, Central and South America and the U.S. More than one million people contracted the virus in 2014. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3651313/lindsay-lohan-chikungunya-virus/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3651313/lindsay-lohan-chikungunya-virus/"},"headline":"Lindsay Lohan Is Battling the Chikungunya Virus","datePublished":"2014-12-31T19:22:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:12:55.250Z","description":"Chikungunya causes debilitating joint pain","url":"https://time.com/3651313/lindsay-lohan-chikungunya-virus/","keywords":["celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3651313/lindsay-lohan-chikungunya-virus/","name":"Lindsay Lohan Is Battling the Chikungunya Virus"}}]}] ```