**1. Introduction**

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an arthropod-borne virus firstly discovered during the Tanzanian outbreak in 1952 and isolated a year later (1953) from patient serum and mosquitoes [1]. CHIKV is a worldwide epidemic threat responsible for self-limited fever, maculopapular rashes, and debilitating polyarthralgia in most (90–92%) infected patients [1, 2]. Its name, meaning "that which contorts or bends up" in "Kimakonde", a Tanzanian and Mozambican vernacular language, stems from the stooped posture exhibited by infected patients [3–6]. In endemic areas, CHIKV can be misdiagnosed as it displays dengue (DENV) or zika virus (ZIKV) like symptoms [1, 7]. Although less lethal, CHIKV-associated mortality rate can be influenced by other factors, including immunocompromised individuals, newborns from high viremic mothers or patients with preexisting arthritis [1]. CHIKV represents a serious economic burden, affecting the physical status of infected

patients, restraining them from working for up to 35 days, as reported during the 2007 Indian outbreak [8]. For that reason, CHIKV was categorized as a biodefense pathogen by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in the USA [9]. Presently, there are no clinically licensed vaccines or therapies to treat CHIKV. Nonetheless, several pre-clinical animal models using antibody-based immunotherapy have shown some promising results in preventing and treating CHIKV infections [1, 7, 9, 10]. Despite several obstacles that have to be overcome to reach clinical fruition of such therapy [11], mAbs therapies offer better therapeutic avenues with respect to emerging disease outbreaks [12]. Hence, this review succinctly describes CHIKV characteristics (Transmission, structure and diagnosis) and highlights the potential therapeutic usage of mAbs based on their protective role in naturally occurring humoral immunity following CHIV infection. Lastly, we briefly discuss some challenges associated with mAbs therapy and propose future alternative therapeutic approaches.
