CHIKV infection is an arbovirus that may induce autoantibodies and rheumatic diseases.

Herein, the authors describe a clinical case of a 49-year-old woman who had CHIKV and developed SS almost simultaneously.

Presence of positive antinuclear and anti-Ro/SS-A antibodies support the diagnosis of SS.

Moreover, molecular analyses highlighting sharing of minimal immune determinants between the virus and the SS autoantigens might suggest a specific link between the infection and the autoimmune disease. Such a hypothesis appears to be supported by the fact that only a few of the peptides shared between CHIKV and SS are also present in pathogens that have been associated with SS such as EBV and hCMV.

It would be reasonable to interrogate patients with recent SS about travel and infections and vice versa, considering autoimmune conditions in patients infected with CHIKV.